Oh hell no Where am I NOW!
by Amatsu Kagaseo
Summary: A bored man returns to his game only to find himself in a strange, new world. Is it a good opportunity to improve himself? Or may it drag him further to the depth of hell? (a little AU)
1. Chapter 1

This is a sorta reboot of 'A Rider in Remnant' as the original idea was too difficult to continue with the established number of Rider forms. In this story, he has only one Rider form but gradually gains up to three more different ones.

And since I now decide to pursuit this fic seriously, I have to consider the Color Naming Rule as well. My OC's name now is Zwart Parel, 'Black Pearl' in Dutch. He won't have a team as he is a Kamen Rider but he will still stay at Beacon due to plot reasons.

That's all I can say for now. Enjoy the story!

* * *

~Stage 1~

Rider Experience, an MMORPG that allowed people to become the iconic Kamen Riders and fight the monsters together. It functioned as a 'gacha game' as the first time you created your account, you would be asked to pull one ticket that would result in the Rider you become.

He was a college student like every other that had the required age to participate in this game. At first, he had entered this to kill his boredom and even though he had obtained 'Cronus', one of the most powerful Riders at that period and now, he neglected his avatar user and it took his friends quite an effort to convince him to rejoin the game as the current version was 3.6 and 1.7 was the last version he had logged in. He couldn't help it as he had his life to take care of.

[**Welcome back, Zwart_Parel1209. This is the comeback reward as part of our Comeback Ceremony Event. Please receive it in the Mail section. Have fun!**]

Navigating to the said area, there was an unfolded letter labeled 'Day 1 reward'. It was a weird multicolored medal, which he recalled never seeing before

"Must be a new item." Shrugging his shoulders, he put on the VR Googles and entered one of the daily quests. The destination was Fuyuki City, a location in Kamen Rider W. it usually required at least level 40 to enter but his was 45 so it should be sufficient.

[**Connection established.** **Gachoon**]

"Henshin."

[**Buggle up! Ten wo Tsukame Kamen Rider. Kizame Chronicle. Ima koso Toki wa Kiwamaneri!]**

The next thing he knew, that this was not a Rider Experience map at all.

* * *

"Mercury, Emerald, do it."

"Yes ma'am."

There was a trio circling around a girl with short brown hair. Despite her situation, the girl seemed confident. The only boy in the trio leaped at her with his leg, no, metallic leg, while the other girl with short mint-green hair brought her pair of sickles down. The cornered girl blasted them off with her wind and flame power but that only created an opening for the last one to strike her with her swords. It succeeded in bringing the girl to her knees and the two quickly apprehended her.

"Now, what am I going to do with you?" The woman asked out loud as she pulled out the glove on her right hand. There was a glowing crest on the forehand and she brought it closer to the girl. Tendrils spouted out from it and latched on her face and they began to drain something. The girl's expression went from shocked to weakened and was close to unconscious.

* * *

"Yo that's dirty."

Zwart thought this was a PvP match but he swore that he had entered an PvE area and PvP was impossible to initiate inside such areas. He pressed both red and blue buttons on the device at his waist.

[**PAUSE**]

A shockwave burst from his body to the surroundings. Immediately, everything around him froze in place. Cronus stepped out of his hiding spot and went to the crowd. He first kicked the man out and backslapped the green-haired to free the captive. When he tried to pull the tendrils out, he found that they were quite resistant to force.

"Tch. How troublesome."

[**GASHOON**]

Zwart took the Bugster Driver Zwei from the belt and attached it on the Grip Knuckle on his right hand and turned it around to extend the saw edge. Unsurprisingly, one slash from it and the stubborn tendrils were cut away. He then reattached it on the Buckle.

[**GACHOON**]

"And now, the finale. Hope you idiots learn the lesson not to pick on other players."

Cronus pressed the blue 'B' button twice as his visor flashed.

[**KIMEWAZA! Rider, Critical Crews-Aid!**]

A hologram of clockwork appeared beneath Cronus before he performed a reverse roundhouse kick on the woman with his feet growing with energy. The result was a frozen sphere energy on her body and the clock hands stopped at the XII. Once it's done, he pressed the two buttons on the Driver again.

[**Shuuen no Ichigeki! RESTART!**]

Time began to resume as the frozen midair duo flew away while the woman was blasted off by an explosion. The captured girl gasped for air as she looked around fanatically to find her attackers and found that they were scattered and injured, the woman earlier was in the worst shape. Anyone could tell that she was out of Aura and gravely wounded in the same time.

"What…the…?!" She looked up to see a weird guy in full-body costume staring down at her with his ridiculous helmet. But Amber could tell that he was the culprit. Both of them turned their heads toward the woman, who seemed to be groaning at the burnt marks and swollen spots on her body.

"Still alive? You must have a 'Continue' portion then. Well, I guess I have to delete your avatar again."

"What…the fuck…are you saying?!"

"Hmm?" Taking a closer look, Zwart realized that she was not in a Rider suit at all. In fact, everybody wasn't. "Seriously? Am I in a civilian location? What's wrong with this game?"

"Shut up! How dare you reduce me, Cinder Fall, to this state – Kuh!"

"Hmm, must be a bug." Cronus brought his hand to his chin and pondered. "Oh well, I will delete you for the admins then."

[**GACHOON**]

He let the Driver in Beam Gun mode and pointed it at the struggling woman as energy started concentrating in the muzzles. Before he could put this humanoid bug to oblivion, someone hit his back and this made his shot swayed to the other side.

"Hmm?"

"Em, grab Cinder and go! I will deal with this guy."

The gray haired teen was back and was yelling at his companion. Said girl nodded and supported the injured woman. Cronus slowly turned around as the boy kept hitting his back and it didn't hurt at all, aside denting his armor.

"Perhaps you first."

He pressed the trigger as the blast sent Mercury to the trees behind. Zwart flipped the device as the sawblade extended while approaching the man. The latter leaped for a divekick but Cronus easily intercepted it with his blade and grabbed the leg before crushing it.

"AAAAARGH! YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Tch tch, language language."

He pressed the 'A' button first and then 'B'

[**KIMEWAZA! CRITICAL SACRIFICE!**]

The blade glowed and extended with energy. Mercury could only raise his hands to defend as the attack came contact with him and swung him away. He landed near the female duo. The green-haired girl said something to him before taking out a circular object. She slammed it down on the ground and a thick smoke engulfed them. Cronus didn't bother to pursuit them as he knew this kind of tactic.

Returning to the girl, he opened his item case and chose the 'Heal' bottle before using it on her. The external wounds disappeared almost instantly as she examined her body in astonishment. She was about to stand up and thank him when what left of her strength went away and she collapsed.

"Hey!" Zwart was fast enough to catch her. Placing two fingers on her wrist to check her pulses, he was relieved to find them weak but still beating. He didn't know why he had done this on a virtual character but what's done was done. He bride-carried her and followed the wide path ahead before he felt someone was watching him. He stopped mid-track and turned his head to a big tree behind him.

"If you want another beating, feel free to come at me."

Qrow's heart skipped a beat. When the hell did that guy spot him so easily? Or was he just overcautious? He stayed at his position for a little longer until the guy in costume let Amber lie down and pulled out the strange device earlier onto his hand and aimed at Qrow's direction.

"Shit!"

The green-energy shot pulverized the branch Qrow was standing completely. The huntsman drew out his weapon and rushed at Cronus. His sword clashed against the sawblade and his instinct screamed at him to back away as the Rider grew his blade and it looked like the energy edge could cut through his Harbringer. He snapped the weapon to switch it to Shotgun mode and fired couple shots. Cronus withstood them and reattached the device back to the buckle before pressing both buttons.

[**PAUSE**]

[**RESTART**]

Qrow's back felt like it's going to break in half and his Aura was almost depleted. His face fell to the ground as his insides started to accumulate in his throat. A large shadow loomed over his sight with glowing lime-colored eyes staring down at him.

"Are you done? Now excuse me, I have a girl to tend with."

"What are you…gonna do…with Amber…?"

Cronus let out a questioning hum and looked at the unconscious girl.

"So her name is Amber. I happened to come across a three-on-one fight and decided to help the losing side. Are you her friend? I do recall not seeing you among the trio."

Qrow weakly grunted as acknowledgment. Cronus took out another Heal portion and threw it at the downed Huntsman. In seconds, all the wounds recovered. Qrow stared at him unbelievably.

"Just what's your intention?"

"Nothing." Cronus shrugged his shoulders. "It's just that you can do the job for me instead. You can call me Cronus. As much I want to talk more, I do have other businesses to attend so, see ya."

He walked away. Qrow wanted to say more but knew that it wouldn't gain nothing. He glanced at the sleeping Amber and shook his head.

"Man, what a good bodyguard I am." He took out his Scroll and dialed. "Oz, it's me Qrow…"

* * *

Zwart stopped walking in the middle of the jungle and thought of everything had happened. Cinder and Amber, these names sounded weird but for some reasons, he had a feeling that he knew them well. He tried to exit the area but was unable to as the interface hologram didn't show the 'Exit' option. Stranger, it only displayed three sections: Inventory, Battle Lessons and Map. The other seven were missing including the aforementioned Exit.

"This is getting creepier and creepier. Non-Rider PKers and characters from that one internet-show I have forgotten the name…"

He opened the Map. Wow, it even had the map of Vale stored inside the folders. He navigated the hologram and the closest location was the City of Vale, which was three kilometers from his position to the North. He was facing the East so Zwart made a turn and moved according to the instructions.

It didn't take long to get to the city. There was a security checkpoint in front of the entrance so he resorted to Pause to sneak past. Zwart didn't remember much about this animated show so the building layout confused him. The Map showed nothing except the path he had created.

'So I must obtain the map data then.'

He continued his way aimlessly. The bystanders stared at his appearance and took out their Scrolls to take pictures. Zwart didn't care as he probably wouldn't stay in this world until the server was fixed, he assumed. The NPCs could do anything they wanted.

Stopping in front of a bookstore, Zwart pushed the door slightly and entered. The owner, a beastman, was startled at his presence but he raised a finger and shh'ed.

"Just do whatever you are doing. I'm here to read some books."

"O-Okay then. Enjoy."

Zwart's hand trailed across the shelves to search for the map section. He found it and opened the first book, which was the overall map of Remnant. It further confirmed his theory that Rider Experience was having a collaboration event with RWBY, the name of this show.

'An almost-real simulation, huh…'

The helmet scanned through the book for a moment for any missing detail and Zwart changed to the others. In the span of five minutes, he had completed uploading the more detailed map of this world in general and this city specifically. He walked to the exit and thanked the owner.

'So, according to whatever left in my brain, I should be few months before the show even starts. The little girl in red will be in a Dust store while her sister will crash a bar.'

Zwart talked in his mind while walking, not knowing a shadowy figure tailing him.

'The time should move faster since this is a simulation after all. first, I need a place to rest. Should I get to the Club?'

Suddenly, he felt a sharp object hitting his nape rapidly. Turning around, he saw a dog-type beastman or Faunus as they were called in Remnant holding a knife. He was wearing some kind of uniform he couldn't remember seeing before. Zwart thought this guy was a White Fang.

"What can I do for you?"

"You are stepping into our territory, disgusting human."

"Oh, I do recall you animals have no right to call Vale 'your' territory."

Zwart had nothing about the race but having stabbed multiple times, him not feeling anything aside, and being called 'disgusting' were annoying. At the word 'animal', the Faunus roared and lunged at him. A simple jab sent him to the dumpsters.

"Pick someone in your level to bully, asshole."

The Faunus muttered something too small for him to hear but Zwart didn't care as he delivered one more kick at his face to silence him for real before leaving the area. All the scene was recorded by a CCTV nearby. Ozpin clenched his jaw after watching the short fight and looked at Scroll, thinking of Qrow's report. The man in full-body armor looked exactly the same with the description of Amber's rescuer and the drunkard's attacker.

'Is he an ally…or an enemy?'

Ozpin needed more time to monitor this mysterious 'Cronus' individual. He would have to connect to all of the CCTVs for this.

* * *

"Oh right, I have to get out of this thing." Zwart wondered out loud as he looked at his body. "Let's see. It should be like this…" He pressed the A button and then removed the Gashat from the Driver. The suit disappeared into data after that. He was in the default avatar outfit composed of a trench coat, a simple black t-shirt and brown pants. He took out the Gashacon Bugvisor Zwei and Buckle before putting them into his coat.

"Halt. Where is your ID boy?"

There were two guards outside the Junior's Club. One of them was blocking Zwart's way and demanded. He clicked his tongue as he hadn't even thought of this before.

"Well, um, my Scroll gets destroyed." Seeing the guard's more intense stare, Zwart spoke nervously. "A, and I'm here to apply for a job."

"Don't fuck with me, boy –"

"Wait, Jack." The other guard stopped his colleague and examined Zwart up to down. "You look tough enough. Actually, our boss is in need of a waiter. The last one was killed during a gang shootout. Let him in. If he's qualified, that's good. Otherwise, we will kick his ass."

"Hmm…" Jack frowned, eyes darting from his friend and Zwart. "You have a point. Stay put, I will go tell him."

A few minutes later, he returned. "Boss approved. Come in."

Zwart nodded and stepped into the building. True to its name, the club was very noisy and the music was starting to hurt his ear. He walked to the counter, where a middle-aged man in bartender outfit was waiting for him.

"So, you are our new waiter boy. Jack was right, you look tough enough. I may let you in but we will have to test you first. You alright with that kid?"

"No problem, Mr. Xiong."

"That's the spirit." Junior turned to the twin standing not far from the counter. "Melanie, show this new guy the thing."

The girl with long hair and white dress nodded and approached Zwart with a seductive hip motion. His left eye twitched.

"Hey cutie, what's your name."

"It's Zwart Parel, miss." He decided to use his username and gave her a polite bow. Melanie laughed at his attic and hugged his right arm with her left.

"Aw, don't be so formal. Just call me Melanie. Let's go, I will show you the 'stuff'."

Despite the suggestive word, Melania was showing him the worker's room and the waiter locker. She told him to change to the uniform and after that, he would be tested. Zwart complied.

'Wow, this is surprisingly comfortable to wear.'

He headed downstairs and Melanie was there to awe at his new appearance. Junior smirked and got his attention.

"Right, now. I need you to deliver these to table 6, 15 and 27. Do this flawlessly and I will let you in immediately. Got that?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Great. Now get to work."

Zwart picked up the tray with three glasses and went to the tables. He barely noticed the twin following him. He delivered the first one with no problem and now headed to table #15. As he suspected, Junior had told the girls to pester him. He paid them no mind as he continued his way with steady pace.

"Heeeey Zwartyyy, why are you ignoring us ladies~"

"Yeah~"

Zwart admitted; he had never encountered such twins like them. They almost got him but his previous experiences as part-timer of many jobs had taught him to keep his head cool.

"Please excuse me."

He said simply before placing the glass on the table. The guest grinned at him after realizing the situation.

"Junior's new guy, eh? An advice for you, kid: the previous guy was tricked into debts by Junior and his ladies so he had to hang himself."

"I…see. Have a good night."

"Watch yourself, kid."

He left the table and went to the last one. On his way, Zwart shot dirty looks at the twins, who flinched at his sudden change of attitude. They tried to make him talk but it was useless.

'Well, that's expected of them. After all, I'm dealing with gangsters here.'

The last guest was, he blamed his luck, Roman Torchwick.


	2. Chapter 2

For those who wonder, Zwart's avatar appearance looks like Joker from Persona 5 with the metallic silver hair and blood-red eyes. He is also taller than Joker.

* * *

~Stage 2~

'Ah shit…'

"Hmm, I've never seen you before. New guy eh?" Roman asked while waving his cigar. Noticing Zwart's disdain look toward him, the criminal narrowed his eyes. "I don't like your attitude, kid."

"Should I be friendly and carefree in front of a master criminal?" He replied with a raised brow. Roman blinked twice before laughing and patting his shoulder.

"My bad, my bad. Should've known my reputation preceding me. You got guts, kiddo. Perhaps in the future, I will invite you to some of my heists."

"No thanks. I don't want to have troubles with the cops."

Zwart gave him a bow and then left. Roman still laughed as the empty seat next to him suddenly 'cracked' and then a girl with half pink, half brown and white streaks hair appeared. She was giggling something to Roman's ear and he cackled more.

"I know right? If someone is worth your attention, he is definitely interesting. And hey, don't tell that bitch his identity just yet. I want her to get bloodied a little longer."

Junior was obviously not happy about the result but begrudgingly kept his words. Upon learning that the kid, Zwart was 21 mind you, had lost his 'home' in a Grimm invasion, the owner also allowed him to stay at one of the spare guest rooms with the cost of quarter of his salary this month for the initial fee. After that, he would have to spend a certain amount of his money to pay the rent. Zwart agreed, as he was used to this lifestyle.

"Alright Parel, since I have things to deal with today, we will close early. Go help the others to clean the place and rest."

"Understood."

"Melanie, Miltia, be nice with him."

And then he put on his fedora and left the bar with a couple of thugs. Zwart was alone with the twins and they were already teasing him with the usual kinky talking. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He didn't have time for these NPCs.

"Heya, Zwarty, are you Aura-less?"

"Do you want us to unlock it for you? Don't worry, it's free~"

He seriously doubted it would be free. But on the second thought, having an invisible barrier was a good thing too considering he would have to fight without Cronus someday. But, glancing at the eagerly waiting duo, he really hesitated at this.

"Maybe…in the future. For now, I'm content with what I am. I don't get to be involved with violence after all."

"Bummer…"

Melanie kicked a random chair nearby and then went to upstairs, Miltia followed suit. He sat by the counter and waited until the guests left. He saw Roman walk down with a girl he assumed to be Neopolitan, Roman's psychopath sidekick. He regarded them with a polite nod, cue the criminal gave him a large tip. Neo stared at him with her multicolored eyes and he returned the gesture with his crimson ones. She giggled at him before following after Roman.

'Must I attract the attention of baddies?'

Half an hour later, he and three other men were the only presences in the club so they started their work. Good thing that the guests rarely spilled or laid waste on the floor so his part was to sweep whatever had left and sort the chairs and tables. Once the other workers had left, he went to close the doors and windows, change his clothes and head to the motel floor. Melanie and Miltia took a sizable room and his was a relatively small one.

'Beggars can't be choosers. At least this is clean and tidy.'

He then realized that other than his avatar outfit, he had nothing else on his body. He shrugged; this was just a game, wouldn't that be important? Besides, he was tired so Zwart threw himself on the bed and drifted into sleep. Next day, he was asked to buy some groceries by the twins. They didn't ask much, just breakfast and some makeup packages from a convenient store nearby. Junior hadn't returned yet so all three of them was having a day off. He didn't have a Scroll so Miltia offered to find him one. Apparently Junior, and the twins by extension, knew a black market dealer so they asked for an up-to-date model. It should arrive tomorrow or so.

"Zwarty, you sure you don't want to go with us?"

"Yeah! It will be fun!"

"No thanks, I will stay here and maybe take a walk."

He spent the rest of the day taking a stroll around the district. The people were friendly enough to him and he enjoyed their companies. Night came fast so he came back to the club and because the twins hadn't returned, he left the door there for them. For some reasons, he felt tired faster than usual so he went to bed early.

* * *

"Wait, isn't this the lobby?" Zwart wondered out loud. Before him was the familiar hall when logging in, although there was no one in here. He was also in his Cronus form this time, weird.

"Helloooo, anyone hereeeee?"

He shouted for no reason. Only the sounds of machines running answered him. He stepped forward and found that a sort of gravity field was enacted, which slowed down his movement a lot. It was usually used to stop PvP in non-battle areas like this. But the Field only activated when two Players were about to fight each other and yet only him in this place.

"Oh, you are still here."

He recognized that form. It was Ohma Zi-O, an exclusive Ride form for the Admins until newer powerful ones are available.

"An Admin? Where is everyone? And what is the deal with that world?"

"I don't know what world you are referring to but Rider Experience is getting shut down. Apparently, there are some serious bugs that cause the VR Googles to send deadly radio waves to the brain. There has been a lot of Players in coma due to this and the rest is abandoning this game. In fact, today is the last day so we give away a lot of gifts to the loyal Players, including the VIP privilege that allows you to re-roll and change to the Riders you get. For more information, please read the description in each gift. Thank you for playing Rider Experience since its release up to now."

And he disappeared. A notification told him that four items had been added to his Inventory. Zwart didn't care about that, rather, the incident the Admin had informed him. Didn't it sound familiar? He swore that he had heard something like that before. Some Light Novels about a nerd getting stuck in a game – that later. What was important now was him at risk of being infested by such bugs. He opened the menu and pressed 'Exit'.

"Argh!"

The hologram shot lightning at him. As he was struggling with the shock, Zwart saw the interface fading along with his body.

"You fucking serious? I die, because of an online game?! GUH AAAAARGH!"

* * *

"Aah!" Zwart shot up from his bed, sweats all over his body. He was in the motel room Junior had provided him with. He thought all of that was a dream but then the numbness form his limbs said the otherwise. Not believing it, he opened the Inventory and there were four new gift items in there.

"So it was real… I really died and somehow got into this place." He stared at his trembling hands. What about his real life? What about his parents waiting for his return in Spring? He grabbed his coat and took out the Chronicle Gashat.

"I died…because of this?" He pressed the button on the Gashat.  
[**KAMEN RIDER CHRONICLE**]

The familiar announcement and jingle played before dying down as there was no Driver to insert it. When it did, a strong pulse ran from the object into his body, effectively shut all anxiety and negative emotions he was having. Furthermore, there were orange buzzling stasis spots on the path the pulse was travelling and eventually spread to his entire body frame.

"What the…? A bugster infection?" His body became normal after that but he felt like something was wrong with him. A series of knocks from the door snapped him out of thoughts.

"Zwarty? Are you okay in there? We heard screaming."

"It's nothing! Just a nightmare." He replied. It was technically true as he did wake up from it.

"Oh, alright then. Listen, I know you are getting accustomed with the fact that you lost your home and parents to the Grimm. If you want, I and Miltia will be there for you."

Wow, that's really generous of her, he mused.

"Thanks a lot. Well, good night."

"Uh huh, good night you too Zwarty."

Once he confirmed that they were out of hearing range, Zwart stood and dressed himself up. Despite whatever the Gashat had done to him, he still wanted to do something to vent off the frustration in his mind.

'Front door is out of option. The girls will notice immediately. Where else?'

He looked around and stopped at the door to balcony. Perfect. He opened it as quiet as he could and to his amusement, a ladder was conveniently placed there. He quickly made to outside using it.

Zwart looked at the empty streets with occasional winds sweeping by. What was he going to do out here? He didn't know. Maybe becoming a Kamen Rider for real? Or joining Roman in his crimes and embracing the dark like the original Cronus did? Too many choices to choose so he chose the first one.

[**GACHOON**]

[**KAMEN RIDER CHRONICLE**]

He attached the Buggle Driver Zwei on his waist and activated the Chronicle Gashat. The jingle played while the Gashat flew out of his hand and waited for him to press the 'A' button. He did.

[**GASHAT**]

"Henshin." He pushed the Trigger.

[**Ima koso Toki wa Kiwamaneri**]

"Now, let's find a crime to stop." And Cronus marched on.

* * *

Michael was a hawk-type Faunus and a proud White Fang member. Today he and his brethren were assisting the human named Roman Torchwick in one of his Dust heists. As loathed as he was, Adam told them to tolerate this for a time as the criminal was helping them to gather Dust and other resources for their causes and Roman was very good at his job.

They were robbing a fairly big Dust store and punishing the owner in the same time. The wrenched human was notorious for abusing his Faunus workers and some rumors said that he even sold them to the Schnee for money.

"Let me do the last hit."

"Alright, go for it, Michael."

The Faunus brought his sword upon the begging human and ended his life. His comrades were cheering for him when a series of handclaps interrupted him.

"Bravo bravo, you took yet another life. So much for a formerly peaceful and respected organization."

"Shut up! As if you can understand our suffering!"

"Oh, I do understand. Where I come from, humans discriminate against each other just because some have different skin tones. I belong to such group, you see."

"That's not justified the racism at all! We have suffered from your kind for too long and now we are revolting!"

"Tch tch, and look what you have brought to the White Fang. People, human and Faunus alike, used to respect you and now, even your own race hate you. How ironic." Cronus exited the shadow of the building he was hiding in. They were frozen at the sight. "I don't know the beef between you all and the poor guy you killed but," He walked a bit faster towards the group. "Killing and robbing are bad."

….

Roman was taking a piss while leaving the animals to do the dirty work. When he returned, all of them were beaten to a pulp and the last one was being choked by a…freak in greenish and darkish costume. Wait, he knew this guy.

"Kid, is that you?"

The kid heard Roman and turned to him, but not before throwing the hawk Faunus away like a rag doll. Both of them faced each other, the criminal gripped his cane while Cronus' composure seemed lax. A gust of wind blew by and the tension grew thicker. A weak Faunus crawled to his gun and aimed at the Kamen Rider. The shot barely scratched him.

"Roman." He called out the criminal's name.

"Yeah?"

"One thing I agree with you." [**GACHOON**] "Animals stay where animals are."

Cronus pointed the gun-mode Bugvisor at his attacker and fired. The energy shot blasted the faunus further away and this time, he stayed put.

"Back to the main business, how did you know?"

"My little sidekick, Neo here." Cue the girl appeared and waved friendly at Zwart. "has watched your 'fight'." He made air quotes at the word. "You should have chosen a more secluded place to de-transform, you know."

"Hmph." He inclined his head toward the girl and snorted. "Yeah. I should take that to heart. But really, Roman." He leveled his gun at the man, prompting him to do the same. Neo tensed and drew her hidden blade. "Since when did you have to rely on the White Fangs of all people?"

"Beat me. Cinder, the little bitch you gave quite a curbstomp to, assigned them to me and while I hate them, I'm an honest-to-god human too, they are very obedient and do their job better than most grunts."

Cronus stayed still, thinking. So Cinder had contacted Roman before his arrival, sooner than he had expected. No matter.

"Then why did you ask me to come with you?"

"Why, to scare that bitch of course! She is so o-mighty and haughty that every single time, I have to resist the urge to blow her face off. Even cute Neo here wants to kill her and she is crazy!"

Neo pouted at the man, a gesture that Zwart found really cute. He lowered his arm and re-attached the Bugvisor while noticing Neo was watching him closely. He smirked behind the helmet.

"Don't ever think of stealing it. It will fry you alive if you put it on." Another pout and Zwart wished he had brought a camera to capture that. Roman sighed in relief as this didn't escalate to unneeded bloodshed. He wasn't sure that even Neo could stand against the kid.

"Nice toy. You got it from Atlas?"

"Please. If they created this, you wouldn't be here talking." He de-henshin'ed.

"True true."

Roman went to wake up the unconscious Faunus group. They weakly groaned at the pain but managed to stand up. Some of them became agitated at the presence of another human.

"Shush, he is my associate. Gather the Dusts and cram."

"Really, Roman? Since when did we become friends and buddies?"

"Aw don't be like that. I like your guts, kid, and Neo too! Right, Neo?" Said girl was blushing heavily and shaking her head repeatedly.

"Yeah right." They all laughed. Roman looked at his watch and urged the Faunus. Zwart needed to get back to the club. He was about to leave when Neo grabbed his hand and winked.

"What now…"

"Hold it kid. I think I have a good deal for you." Roman lit his cigar and said. "You see, with you beating the animals like this, Cinder will not happy at all and that will hurt my business. Buuut, if I tell her that you are the culprit, she will shut up. now, here's the deal. I will call you before the heists and once you get there, you can do anything you want to the White Fangs while Neo will record you. If everything gets smooth, you will get the cash."

Zwart frowned; it sounded too good to be true. Something was fishy here.

"Any catch?"

"Almost nothing. Just be sure to leave the goods intact and don't kill the animals. The last thing you and I want is the cops going for our heads."

"…Come to the bar and we will talk more. Right now, I need time to think and I don't have a Scroll right now."

"Sure! I will see you tomorrow night. Get a good sleep kid!"

* * *

"-ty. Zwarty!"

"W, what?!"

Melanie's shout snapped him out of his thoughts. He was cleaning a table when thinking back at the deal with Roman. He also got his Scroll earlier today so he and the man could exchange numbers. Speaking of the Scroll, as he had thought, it functioned just like a smartphone so he didn't have trouble using it.

"Junior is calling for you. Geez, just the second night at work and you are already lazy."

"Haha, sure."

He went to the counter. Junior returned this morning and he looked pissed. Apparently someone had attacked a White Fang goon and his/her comrades were making a fuss, demanding the culprit. Junior had to resolve using money and that's why his mood was bad.

"Take these to Roman. He asked for you specifically."

"Yes sir."

He brought the cocktail and ice cream to Roman and Neo's table. They were expecting him.

"Hey kid, 's good to see you. Take a seat."

He complied. Roman put away his cigar and took a long slip of the cocktail before speaking.

"So, heard you got a Scroll. Have you thought about it?"

He did. Considering his situation now, he needed more money than Junior could give. Soon he had to leave this bar and find a better place to live, which required lots of cash.

"Sure."

"Splendid! Here, let's exchange numbers." Once that's done. "Tonight, we are having another robbery. The place is 'Over the Rainbow'. I will send you the exact location later. Since this will be your first night, only three thousand Lien. Depends on your performance, it will increase to five, ten or even a million. Sounds good, right."

"Hmm, I suppose. Anything else?"

"Nothing for now."

"Then we seal the deal."

Later that night, Junior suddenly allowed him to go out at nights. Zwart suspected Roman had a hand in this. His Scroll received a message and when he touched it, the GPS app opened on its own and showed him the way to a new Dust store. He transformed and let the helmet download the data from the Scroll. It began navigating the path.

After a short walk, he was at the corner across the street. The store was demolished and the White Fangs were hauling bags after bags of Dust out.

Cronus stepped in.

"Looks like you need a lesson."

It was easy. Since virtually nothing could harm him, Cronus made short work of them and a pile of groaning bodies was the result. Roman was clapping behind him.

"Good good good." He turned at Neo with a Scroll on her hand. "You got it all right?"

The girl nodded.

"Nice. Here's the cash kid." He handed Zwart a stash of Lien. "Next time, you should make a bank account. Keeping too much money in your pocket will only attract attention."

"Noted."

"Well, you should go now. They are waking up."

Cronus made a turn and walked away. But then he stopped and turned to a well-hidden CCTV and made a 'sshh' finger. Ozpin nearly fell out of his chair at the sudden action.

* * *

Time passed as Zwart was getting used to his life rather well. Despite what people said about him, Junior was quite pleasant to work for unless there was one of those days. The twins were also pleasant to be around. They didn't make any inappropriate moves toward him so he was fine with them. The deal with Roman went on without troubles, even with the White Fangs sending tougher members against him, they were nothing against Pause.

There was something weird with him. He was pretty sure that he didn't have Aura at all and yet, when Neo tried to unlock it for him, she typed on the Scroll that 'You already possessed one. I only _opened _it further for you.' Did this have something to do with the Chronicle Gashat two months ago? He couldn't find an answer but seeing that it wouldn't serve any practical purpose, he let it slide. Now he officially had an Aura and the next thing was to find what his Semblance was. The twins and even Neo couldn't know the exact method to do so. Semblances manifested very randomly and the requirements for that was hard to pinpoint. Maybe when he was in danger, maybe when he was angry. Yes, he had tried both of them. The twins were skeptical when he asked them to beat him as hard as they could…And he woke up in the hospital.

Speaking of hospital, he found out that someone had paid for the fees and it's not Junior or Roman or anyone he knew. He had a hunch that whoever had been watching and eavesdropping him was the person. He also suspected that it was _Ozpin_ because well, he did save Amber the Fall Maiden so the old man should find a way to contact him.

Zwart did have interest in joining Beacon but not to become a Huntsman, merely to kill his boredom. The waiter job and Roman's deal started to bore him. But for now, he didn't care about that and he even didn't know how to enroll into Beacon anyway. So he continued being the vigilante Cronus and a normal waiter for the time being.

It was a usual night at Junior's Club. Guests went in and out. Roman actually cancelled tonight and went to ask Junior for some men. Apparently Cinder was trying to ignore Zwart and ordered Roman to get more goons. The criminal smelt something fishy so he told Zwart to stay quiet for some time.

'Wait a sec, tonight is supposed to be –'

A loud explosion from downstairs confirmed that for him. Yep, it's 'Yellow' Trailer.

"For God's sake!"

He jumped down and intervened just as Yang was about to hit Junior's face again. Melanie and Miltia were out of cold nearby. As the Bugster virus somehow strengthened his overall stats greatly, he easily caught her fist and slowly twisted it to the side.

"What the -?! Who the hell are you, frizzy hair?

"Zwart Parel. A pleasure to meet you, Yang Xiao Long."

They broke from each other. Yang backed away while flexing her hand. He must have hurt it a lot, it seemed. Zwart sent a look at Junior, telling him to get to the safe place.

"How did you know my name?"

"Rumors say that a blonde bombshell is wrecking bars after bars in search of a certain piece of information. We did anticipate your arrival but truly, you are stronger than you look."

"Aw, thank you big guy. Now step aside."

"None can do."

He launched toward Yang with a headbutt. She did the same but Zwart was having the advantage for now. The force sent her backward and dazed her a bit. He watched as the blazing aura around her started to get thicker and moved his hand to his pocket. Yang shot right up and dashed at him with a bone-crushing punch. Even with Aura and the current state of his body, Zwart still felt like he was hit by a fullspeed racing car.

"Kuh!" He slammed into the counter and the wall behind. Satisfied with that, Yang returned her assault at Junior and the guards. Unknown to her, there was a duo standing outside. One with dark spiky hair and the other was short brown. Their attention was not at Yang but rather, the man flying into the counter.

"Eh?" Yang stopped punching Junior. From the hole, Zwart walked out while showing the Gashat. Said object flew out of his hand and hovered around him.

"You up for another punch?" Yang let go of the bar owner and cockily asked him while stretching her arms. Zwart didn't say anything and activated the Chronicle Gashat. His other hand pressed the A button.

[**Kamen Rider Chronicle**]

The Gashat flew out of his hand and inserted itself to the Driver. He then pushed the Trigger.

"Hen…shin…"

[**BUGGLE UP**]

A large hologram shot out from the Buggle Driver Zwei, hit Yang and scanned through him.

[**Ten wo Tsukame Rider! Kisame Chronicle! Ima koso Toki wa Kiwamaneri!**]

In his place was Cronus, much to everybody's shock.

"It's him!"

"Ssh! Let's watch more."

Cronus approached Yang with slow pace. The blonde was confused but decided to throw the punch. It stopped when hitting his chest armor.

"What?"

"Noisy children." He kicked her away. "will be punished."

[**PAUSE**]

Yang stayed midair due to the effect of timestop. Cronus took out the Bugvisor and attached it to his right hand.

[**KIMEWAZA! Critical Judgment!**]

He placed the gun right at her guts and fired. The explosion caused by impact froze in place. For better measure, he delivered a strong roundhouse kick on her face.

[**RESTART**]

Yang was launched backward by the explosion and landed next to the front door. Her aura dropped to low and her face hurt a lot. She didn't know what that guy had done but she couldn't take another strike at this rate.

"How disappointing. I expected Yang Xiao Long could withstand my strike more than one hit." He stopped in front of her and pressed the B button twice.

[**KIMEWAZA**]

A golden clockwork appeared beneath both of them while Cronus' eyes flashed.

[**Rider Critical Crews-Aid**]

"Stay away from my sister!" A red blur with trails of rose petals hit him right in the face but it wouldn't budge him. Cronus made a spin, his leg glowing with energy.

"Ruby, get out of there!"

"Uncle Qrow?!"

"Too late."

The kick connected but instead of hitting Ruby or Yang, it was Qrow who threw himself in.


	3. Chapter 3

I may change the dialogues during the beginning of the following chapters after 2 to improve them a little.

Zwart received four items, one is the aforementioned VIP Privilege, another is the Upgrade to Final Form. The last two will be revealed later. Also, being VIP allows a Rider Experience Player to reroll and change to the obtained Rider(s) at will.

* * *

~Stage 3~

"Disobedient children…" Cronus lowered his left hand at the Driver and tapped the blue button twice. "…will be punished."

[**KIMEWAZA! Rider Critical Crews-Aid!**]

"N-No…" Exhausted, Yang could only mutter a word. A golden hologram of clockwork appeared beneath both of them while the Rider's eyes flashed and his left leg glowed. Qrow was already rushing to intervene but a blur of red beat him to it.

"STOOOOOOP!"

"Shit! Ruby, get the hell out of there!"

Cronus was spinning reverse-clockwise and Qrow's heart skipped a beat when remembering the footage from Ozpin, which was showing him doing the very same attack on the arguably most dangerous White Fang lieutenant after Adam Taurus and pretty much making the Faunus a vegetable according to the diagnostics. The male Branwen concentrated his Aura into his legs and body and dove at his nieces.

"Useless!"

Cronus' kick collided with Qrow's back and launched all three uncle and nieces into the air. Amber called out what remained of her Maiden power to summon a cyclone to catch them midair, which had caught the Kamen Rider's attention.

"Is that…?

He exited the bar and approached the Fall Maiden. She seemed to recognize him but still looked afraid of him. Cronus had a sudden bad feeling when standing at the middle of the parking lot.

"Mercury, do it!"

A familiar female voice shouted out as said teen jumped from the roof of a nearby building, his prosthetic leg aiming at Cronus. The latter gave him a gesture that could be translated as 'Nuh uh uh'.

[**PAUSE**]

He hauled the frozen Amber up and carried her into the bar before returning everything back to normal. Mercury's leg made a horrendous crack sound as it was both snapped and stuck on the ground.

"Argh! Dirty bastard!"

"Sshh. Naughty children aren't allowed here."

Cronus went for a bone-breaking kick at Mercury's chest and sent him to the air. Quickly equipping the Bugvisor on his right hand, he pressed A and then B to make the sawblade gleam with energy.

[**KIMEWAZA! Critical Sacrifice!**]

"Goddammit, why must he ruin everything?! Emerald, fetch Mercury and retreat!"

"Roger that Cinder."

Cinder sent a couple of fireballs at Cronus, who had no choice but to launch the spinning energy sawblade to intercept. The tanned girl jumped to catch her comrade and created a wall of illusion for her leader to escape. Zwart, having seen through it with the visor, directed the sawblade at the trio. It clashed against Mercury's discarded leg, resulting in a big explosion.

Standing on the building, Salem's pawn glared murderously at the Rider.

"You have been a big thorn in my plan for too long, Cronus! Next time, you won't be able to transform and then, I will have my revenge!"

Cronus said nothing while switching the Bugvisor to Beam Gun mode and shooting at the rambling woman, finally forcing her to leave.

[**Congratulation, you have unlocked an item(s)!**]

"Jesus!"

Cronus literally jumped at the announcement, gathering bewildered stares from everyone present. Since they couldn't see the game interface, they must have thought he was spooked. He opened the Inventory and saw the VIP Privilege had been activated.

'Sweet.'

He then navigated to the Gacha section and pressed the Roll icon. The slot machine began its job and few seconds later, a large blank image appeared from it. Zwart tapped on the picture and it revealed…

[**You have obtained 'Para-DX Perfect Knockout' pack!**]

The screen changed back to the Inventory, where a Gamer Driver and a black Gashat Gear Dual were added to. Wait what? Black? Zwart pulled the Gashat out and examined. It was the Gashat Gear Dual _Another_, not the original red-and-blue one!

'Is the game this broken that it can't distinguish between the two? Wow, that Admin didn't joke at all.'

He de-henshin'ed and put away the Gashats and Driver before heading back to the bar. At there, Junior and his goons were circling around Amber who stood protectively front of the injured Qrow and his nieces. Zwart sighed as he called out for his boss.

"Boss, let me handle them. You can go and, well, fix the place."

"You kidding me, kid? That blonde bitch wrecked my bar and you are telling me to let her go away? No way in hell."

"That's not what I mean. A certain someone will come and pay for the damage. Am I right, Ozpin?"

As announced, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy stepped inside with Glynda Goodwitch accompanying him, the sound of a Bullhead could be heard outside. He regarded Qrow with a disapproving frown and then Junior with an even look.

"Good evening, gentlemen. I am Ozpin, retired Huntsman and Headmaster of Beacon. As Mr. Parel has said, I'm here to retrieve my…aloof subordinates and compensate for the damage young miss Xiao Long has caused."

"Hmph. You better be."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, both of them shook hand and Ozpin motioned Glynda to send the Lien Junior wanted to his Scroll. Said woman was then scolding Yang for her mistake and Ruby for her recklessness.

"Do you understand? A future Huntress cannot act like a street brawler! People will laugh at you and us if you continue like this!"

"B-But it was his fault!"

She pointed at him, who raised an eyebrow. He was tending Melanie and Miltia, giving them a shared Heal Portion.

"Funny. I'm sure that you were beating poor Junior and I had to intervene. He and the guards will attest to that. Besides…" He showed the dark-green Gashat to the about-to-retort Yang. "I'm always up to rematch."

"Tch, cheating asshole…"

"Yang, language!" Ruby butted in and glared cutely at Zwart. "Stop bullying my sis!"

"Now now, children." Ozpin spoke up while holding a cup of hot coffee. How he had gotten it from, Zwart would never know. "Mr. Parel, when you are finished, meet me outside. We have a lot to talk about."

"Just what do you want?"

"All will be answered in due time."

Zwart grunted; probably some cryptic messages and inviting him to his Inner Circle. He hadn't thought of this, at least not this soon. He glanced at Amber, who was quite healthy and cheerful comparing to her fate in canon RWBY. This must mean that his rescue was a success, thought he wasn't sure whether Cinder had a portion of her Maiden power or not. The draining process had taken about five minutes or so.

'No worries. I will just beat her again. As if she can find a solution to deal with Pause.'

After assuring the twins that he would be fine, he went to meet Ozpin. Conveniently, the man had set up a small table and two chairs; two hot coffee cups on the table. Glynda was the first one to greet him and her 'greeting' was just a curt nod and an analyzing stare. More like glare, he mused.

"Ah, there you are at last. Come, take a seat."

"Really, Ozpin? Sitting in the middle of the night, you want to be attacked that much?"

Zwart commented, sitting down while taking a slip of the coffee. "Hmm, good stuff."

"That would be no problem. Dear Glynda here has erected an forcefield that can tell us whether there is an intruder or not. Now, why don't we talk about…" Ozpin presented his Scroll, which was showing the footage of him transforming into Cronus. Seeing Zwart's silence as a yes, he swept to another one, which was him fighting against Cinder and her goons. "Do you have anything to say?"

"Well, the first video is unnecessary as everyone in this bar earlier had seen my transformation. About the second one, was it Qrow's?"

"Indeed. Now, Mr. Parel, do you believe that the Vale and Atlas Councils are looking for you, especially Atlas with our…eccentric friend, General Ironwood? They are very interested in your devices and you wouldn't want to be captured, correct?"

"Cut the chase, _Ozma_. State you true, real intention."

Ozpin flinched visibly but then folded his hands to rest his chin on.

"How interesting. Not many people know that name and all them are more or less familiar to me. You are a wild card, Mr. Parel. You seem to know a lot of things that you shouldn't know; that alone almost made me believe that you are _her_ associate. However, the fact that you saved Amber and fought against her Pawns rectified that belief." He took a long slip of his cup and regarded Zwart with a serious look. "You want to get to the main topic. Very well. Mr. Parel, enroll to Beacon and become a Huntsman, which in turn leads you to join my Circle."

Zwart chuckled at that; Ozpin was just as predictable as he had expected.

"That…sounds sketchy. What is this Circle of yours? The teacher staff or something?"

"Close, but not quite. If you agree with my offer, we can talk more when you come to my office."

Zwart said nothing, enjoying the warm coffee. Man, couldn't fault the old man for being an addict. This stuff was so good.

"I was finding a way to get into Beacon until now, actually. Being a Kamen Rider," Ozpin's eyes gleamed at the term. "is cool and all but I heard that being a Huntsman will get paid more. 'sides, I get to experience the lost years I spent to find as much money as possible in the past so," He set down the cup. "I agree."

"Very good. We will talk more tomorrow. A Bullhead will be here to pick you up –"

"Though, there are some problems. One, I'm 23, which puts me way older than the rest of the students. Two, I don't have a citizen certification due to my origin. Three, I get to change my name, temporarily of course."

"The first and second I can understand but why the third?"

"Junior knows my name and identity and as much as I am grateful to him, I don't trust an information broker. Cinder is looking for me and it's logical that she comes to Junior. The rest, you can figure out."

"Hmm." Ozpin eyed Zwart knowingly. "That can be arranged but I cannot promise. A literal blank like you, no offense of course, will make the procedure a bit difficult."

"I see. Well, good luck with it. If it proves to be too hard for you, just don't mention my name or face too much to the public. As you can see, Salem has eyes everywhere."

* * *

The talk ended with better result than he had anticipated. Ozpin and Glynda left after that after giving their numbers to him. Next thing he had to do was to call for ceasefire with Yang. He didn't want to cause commotion when attending Beacon. Ruby was chatting with Amber about her magic with stars in her eyes and Yang was talking with someone on her Scroll. Judging from her expression, it must be Taiyang chewing her out. Qrow, as usual, was drinking from his flask.

"Hey kid, how was that with Oz?"

"It went well. From tomorrow on, I will be your buddy Qrow."

"Heh, as expected of Oz, very persuasive if needed." Qrow smirked. "That thing of yours is pretty strong but it draws too much attention. Ya see, pretty much all of Remnant knows about you now, including the Queen and her lapdogs. You have to something about it."

"Ozpin and I have a workaround but I have something more. I will show you in later days, when we are out of privy eyes."

"A-Ah!"

Amber spoke out behind him.

"What's wrong, Miss Amber?"

"J-Just call me Amber. Anyway, thank you for saving me." She bowed her head at him gratefully. "If you hadn't come, I would have…"

"No need to say more. You are here and safe, that's all." Zwart smiled at her and offered a handshake. "Zwart Parel, pleased to meet you in person."

"Amber Autumn. Likewise."


	4. Chapter 4

I admit that I used and will use a lot of Ex-Aid and Build Rider Forms and elements. However, there also will be two or three pre-Ghost pieces as well. Since this is Remnant, everything from how the Rider Systems function to the Bugster Virus plus Nebula Gas will be little to vastly different from the original works.

* * *

~Stage 4~

"Hi, I'm Ruby Rose!" Ruby chirped in with her ever cheerful smile. "Are you a Huntsman? Oh right, I forgot to ask for your name too!"

"Slow down, will ya. The name's Zwart Parel, Zwarty is fine. For your first question, I'm no huntsman. Just a guy making his living."

"Aw, I thought you were one since you have that awesome armor and weapon. Do they have names, Mr. Zwart?"

"Hmm." Zwart stroke his chin while wondering whether telling her was a good thing or not. He remembered about the Gamer Driver and the Dual Gashat. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

"The Gun/Saw thing is Bugvisor Zwei and the other is called Chronicle."

"Wow, they sound so cool! Hey, I have a Zwei too! He is a corgi and he is very cute!"

While Ruby was gawking at Zwart, Yang was still fuming about her lost earlier. She studied the older man with a frown, causing Qrow to hit her head gently.

"Just forget it, kiddo. You started it first and to be honest, he wiped the floor with you before you could even blink."

"But Uncle Qrooow, he cheated!"

"It's his Semblance, duh. Are you saying you are a cheater since yours is kinda powerful too?"

"Grrk…"

And then Zwart walked toward her with Amber and Ruby in tow. Urgh, she wanted to smack that smirk so bad! He offered an apology and because Ruby was vouching for it, Yang begrudgingly accepted it. They awkwardly introduced themselves with Zwart trying not to provoke her. Not because he's scared of her, transforming and fighting in the middle of the streets would cause attention.

"Oh, so you are a waiter. Waiter, Zwart…" Yang had a funny look and he did not like it. "I know, Z_wartier_!"

...

Later, as it's midnight so Qrow asked his nieces to get back to Patch while he accompanied back to Beacon. Zwart returned to Junior's Club and helped with the cleaning. Junior was ordering his men when Zwart made it to the front entrance.

"Let me guess. You are going to Beacon."

"Yep. Said he can help me with the papers and all." Zwart replied, picking up unbroken glasses and bottles to put them back on the shelves. "Sorry boss. I know all the troubles you have with covering me up so hopefully, I will get out of your hair from tomorrow on."

"Don't sweat it kid. Unlike the other incompetent idiots from before, you are the most reliable one I ever have in this bar. Go take some rests, the Bullhead may arrive early."

"Thanks."

Zwart went upstairs and took a long bath. He hadn't noticed a swollen fist-size bruise on his chest until now. Remind him to never tick her off when outside Rider form. He placed a hand on it and his body began to absorb the damaged skin and tissues before replacing it with a fresh piece.

'Aura is useful as hell. No wonder basically everyone has to unlock it.'

Unknown to him, his back was showing orange glitch spots.

* * *

Mercury and Emerald stood silently while Cinder was thrashing the furniture and cursing Cronus for foiling her plan once again. Outside the room, Roman and Neo were enjoying their cigar and ice cream.

"Man, the bitch screaming like a hyena is music to my ears."

Neo nodded vigorously. They stopped snickering when Adam Taurus, leader of Vale-branch White Fang, walked pass them and knocked the door. They had to wait for the sound of cursing and objects being thrown to walls to die down before Adam knocked again.

"Who's there?!"

"It's Adam."

The door opened and revealed a nervous and tired Emerald. Poor girl had to hear all of that pointblank. Adam regarded her with an even look.

"Cronus again, I presume."

"Y-Yeah. Please don't provoke her"

"Hmm."

She motioned Mercury to exit the room and let the Bull Faunus in. Adam waited until the door was shut tight and turned to Cinder, who was trying her best to restrain from yelling again. There seemed to be a burn mark from her left cheek to collar.

"That wrench, how dare you do this to my face!"

"Funny, as you always told me to stay away from him." Adam smirked as Cinder summoned a fireball at that remark. He was not frightened at all. "No matter, the operation is still ongoing smoothly. We will just have to sacrifice some comrades to distract him."

"Tell them to do that well. Our plan has been delayed more than expected already. I should have killed in the forest."

"And yet tonight you were defeated, again. Humans are just too arrogant."

"Shut it. I want you to gather your best subordinates to kill him. If necessary, you do that personally."

"I'm afraid that I must leave Vale for few days." Adam flashed her a smug grin. "Sienna is calling for me. You will deal with him alone."

And he left. Cinder glared as hard as possible at his back. She had to do something, she had to obtain more power. She wouldn't let anyone trample on her, never. Cinder hated to do this but she had to rely on her Queen and _him_.

* * *

"Is that true?"

Blake looked like she was on hurry, bursting into Tukson's bookstore. Said Faunus almost felt out from the ladder.

"You scared me, Blake! What are you talking about?!"

"What else, Cronus of course." Blake huffed, taking breaths. "Mannie told me that she saw Cronus walking into your store about two months ago. Is it true?"

"Ah, that weirdo in costume. Yeah, he just walked into and read some books before leaving. Nothing big deal." Tukson said. "Blake, you are not going to pursue him, do you?"

"He is hurting our people, Tukson! Someone like you should have understood that!"

"He can kill all of the White Fangs if he wants. The organization has strayed too far from its original intention."

Blake had an utter shocked look on her face. How could an ex-White Fang like Tukson say that! She ran to him and grabbed his shirt furiously.

"Don't give me that look, you of all people know it well."

"But, but not all of us are…"

"Then why did you run? If you still believed in them, why did you run from the White Fang?"

"Because she is an idiot, of course!"

An overdramatic voice spoke up from behind Blake. She turned around to see a young unknown-type Faunus wearing a light grey wax jacket, dark pants and a fedora. One could say that he looked like a cobra-type, but examination said otherwise. It could simply not identity him.

"Vladimir…!" Both of them muttered in horror. Vladimir smirked and put off his fedora and regarded them a smirk. He was known as the Blood-Drinker in the White Fang, famous for his tendency of consuming his victim's blood after killing them. Not all the time he would do that, mind you.

"Hey Tukky, long time no see. And Blaky too!" He exclaimed in mock-happy tone. Blake let go of Tukson and drew Gambol Shroud with her shaking hands. Vladimir's eyes widened in excitement. "Oooh violence already? Aw, I'm hurt Blaky. That's not how you greet old friend!"

"I am no friend to a bloodthirsty maniac like you!"

"Now that's rude. We all know I need blood to live." Vladimir faked a hurt look before holding his hands high. "Alright alright, no more teasing. I'm not here to fight ya."

"Then, are you going to tell the Fangs about Tukson? Over my dead body." Blake was still in high alarm. Even if she went all out, she doubted she could buy more than a minute for her friend to run. Vladimir was strong enough to rival Adam and that's not counting his other form.

"Tut tut, you are still as brash as ever. No, I'm here to find some interesting books to read. And I happen to hear your conversation." Vladimir looked like he almost laughed like a mad man. "Are you still clinging to that stupid belief of yours? Seriously?"

"It's not your business!"

"It is! How am I supposed to do when more idiotic youngsters join the Fang with high heads and 'White Fang is benevolent and peaceful!' kind of mindset?"

"Because of people like you, the White Fang has been stained!" Her fingers were about to press the triggers when Vladimir raised a finger.

"Ah ah ah, no fighting indoors. And mind you, I am a mercenary, not a fulltime White Fang." And he pulled out a short submachine gun-like device and a small light-purple tube with a cobra emblem. He shook the bottle few times, twisted the head and inserted it into the magazine slot.

[**COBRA**]

A short, repeating jingle played, which made Blake and Tukson brace themselves. A cocky smile rose on Vladimir's face as he aimed the gun at them.  
"Jouketsu." And pulled the trigger. A thick layer of fog exited the gun and engulfed Vladimir.  
[**Mist Match! Co-Co-Cobra…Cobra…FIRE!**]

"Come at me if you want to die, Blakky."

* * *

Zwart was going to Tukson's bookstore when someone was thrown out from the building. It was Blake and she seemed to be in trouble. He stood close to the corner to observed was shocked to see Blood Stalk, no, _Evolto_ of all people stepping out of the store.

"What…the…fuck…?!"

He took a closer look and indeed that was Evolto in his Evol Cobra form. He seemed to be unfazed from Blake's attacks and Evolto pummeled her into the walls. The glowing light around her body started to fade with each punch and kick. Zwart wanted to intervene but he couldn't compromise his identity as Cronus. At this moment, he remembered about it.

"Stop!"

He made a run to the fight scene. Evolto halted his attack at the shout, Blake was almost unconscious when she saw a red eyes man running toward her. Zwart rammed into the Kamen Rider and grabbed her by right arm.

"Quick, get out of here!"

She couldn't talk but still thanked him with a weak nod and left. Vladimir was annoyed when his prey escaped; however, he detected something very strange in this suicidal human. More specifically, his Hazard Level was 2.8, almost 3 and he had no trace of using any method to raise it from the beginning with.

"Who are you, human? Don't you see that I'm having a good time here?"

"Shut up Evolto." Vladimir 'oh'ed at the name with interest. Zwart took out the Gashat Gear Dual Another and rotated the dial for the dark half-image of a boxer in a flaming background with the title 'Knockout Fighter'. An up-beat, heavy metal music began to play.

[**Knockout Fighter! The Strongest Fist! Round 1, Rock and Fire!**]

"Henshin!" He pressed the left button and brought the Gashat closer to the right side of his waist. The object ejected a dark hologram with unidentifiable humanoid on it and scanned through Zwart.

[**Dual Up! Explosion Hit, KNOCKOUT FIGHTER!**]

In Zwart's place was a black boxer-theme body armor with two big streamlined knuckles and a lighter black thick wheel in the back. The eyes flashed as the hologram shattered when the transformation finished. Blood Stalk rubbed his 'chin' while examining the Rider.

"Hmm, that wasn't a Driver I know. You don't look like Build, Cross-Z, Grease or Rogue either. Who are you, boy?"

"Para-DX. Kamen Rider Para-DX." Knockout Fighter (KF) flexed his arms and went into battle stance. "How did you end up in this world, Evolto? I mean, you are not even real."

"Who knows. All I know is after the whole fiasco with Killbas, I ended up here in this weird recreation of my original body. Oh, the Pandora Box is here too but errrr, for some reasons, I can't summon Black Hole and all. Must be 'karma', as you humans always say."

"You really don't know who I am? I thought they programmed you with all the knowledge as A.I?"

"Who knows, again. But for now." Evolto drew the Steam Blade and the Steam Gun. "You seem to be a decent entertainment. It has been long since I encountered a monkey that forced me into using Evol Driver."

'Wait what?!'

Zwart barely raised his knuckles in time to block a downward slash from Blood Stalk, who proceeded to shove his gun into Para-DX's abdomen and unload its magazine. Zwart staggered back due to the impacts and let down his guard, which his opponent utilized very well. Blood Stalk delivered a barrage of slashes and shots, rapidly draining KF's HP.

"Tch!"

Fueled by its user's rage, KF's stats drastically increased as flames emitted from the knuckles, startled Evolto for a brief moment. Zwart returned the gesture with three successive straight punches and an uppercut, each strike only seemed to satisfy the alien more.

"That's it! Unleash your anger into me and raise your Hazard Level! Again!"

Zwart quickly pulled out the Gashat, dialed and reinserted it back to the Gear Holder.

[**URA****WAZA! Dual Up! Knock Out Critical Smash!**]

"URAAAAAAGH!" Zwart roared as the energy finished building up into his fist before rushing at the laughing Blood Stalk and launching the Haymaker finisher into his face. The alien flew into the building block and exploded, causing quite a commotion. Depleted, Para-DX reverted back to human form.

"Ha…ha…Did I get him?"

"Hmm, still not enough."

His body flinched as Blood Stark casually walked out of the flames as if nothing had happened. The helmet didn't even show a dent! Zwart wanted to transform again but he could barely breath. Evolto stopped before him and lowered his head to take a closer look.

"Eyes still normal, body temperature slightly below average, Hazard Level 2.9. Still not enough!" Evolto shouted. "You need to raise your body to its limit and archive a sufficient Hazard Level. That way I can give you a Transteam Gun and a bottle."

"What…are you going to do?"

"Simple, a planet-scaled battle royale to find the strongest to fight me. And here I am not even in my 'usual' state." He threw an empty bottle near Zwart. "When you reach that level, this thing will absorb your -err what is that, Aura! Yes, Aura. Depending on your luck, you will have a Lost Bottle or even better, a Fullbottle. Until then, Ciao." Blood Stalk shot out a layer of smoke and vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

~Stage 5~

Vladimir stood atop a large sink on a building, looking at the young man being helped by Qrow Branwen. He mused; the drunkard's sister had almost become one of his guinea pigs when a moment of distraction let that woman slip away right within his grasp. Good specimens were hard to find, you know.

*Brrrrr*

His Scroll vibrated. Checking and finding that it was Cinder Fall, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. That abomination's pawn had the gall to blackmail him, well, not technically a blackmail when Vladimir, no, _Evolto_ decided to play along with it. He hadn't expected that pool of mud managed to change his body structure and cause him to transform into this blood-sucking half animal half human half Blood-alien _thing_. He didn't know why would he need to suck blood to live though. Must be a side-effect of using Bat Lostbottle to fight Salem. Huh…

"Vladimir speaking."

"…"

"I see. I refuse."

"!"

"Shut your trap, human. It's because of that bitch that I leave you alive to this day."

"!...!"

"Oh, _oooh_. Now that's interesting. Very well, I will tail him."

Cronus, a time-manipulating Kamen Rider. Evolto must pursue him and test his power himself. He had never thought of creating such a bottle with that ability. Maybe this would worth his time, alongside that boy Zwart. He casted one last look at the street and disappeared in a thick cloud of smoke.

* * *

Qrow momentarily froze in place at the sight of the empty bottle. Raven had informed him of such object before and it only led to one man that even Ozpin had trouble dealing with. It was almost nonexistent but he could see the faint engraving of a bat's head on it.

'Though, Vladimir has been playing a significant role in annoying _her_. I should keep a close eye on him via Mr. Parel.'

Meanwhile, Blake had been recording everything from the beginning. A new armored combatant that Vladimir seemed to be acquainted with. He addressed the bloody murderer as 'Evolto', a name she hadn't ever heard before and she doubted Adam would know either. This should be worth investigating. As the Headmaster of Beacon turned his head towards her spot, Blake quickly dashed away.

Ozpin smiled thinly; curiosity killed the cat indeed. He turned to Qrow who was piggybacking the unconscious Zwart.

"Is this necessary?"

"Oh come on, Oz, we have no time. The kid has made quite a scene here."

The two made their way to the location Beacon's Bullhead had landed and entered it. Qrow's expression turned soured once the vehicle took off. He didn't miss the sight of Vladimir Crimson at all. if Raven's words were to believe, he would need to stay the hell away from that mad man. The huntsman typed on his Scroll, sending texts to Taiyang about this. His best friend expressed similar concern and promised to warn Yang and Ruby.

"Oz, are you really sure the kid can stop the Queen and not to mention, that blood sucker?"

"Every help is needed, Qrow. She is strong and her army is endless. We must at least have a sufficient number to hold them off."

"I know. I just don't like the idea of using kids…"

"Unfortunately, they are the most realistic option right now if you leave Atlas' mechanical soldiers out and we all know how unreliable they are."

Qrow chuckled. "Tell that to Jimmy's face."

This time, both of them didn't miss the flashing orange glitches all over Zwart's body.

* * *

-Schnee Mansion, Atlas-

Weiss didn't want to admit this but she, and her brother Whitney, idolized the mysterious huntsman Cronus who throughout the recent three months had been stopping the White Fang's raids in Vale. No one knew of this except her beloved butler Klein and her big sister Winter, who was adamant that Weiss stopped this, in her words, 'obsession' at once.

"Weiss."

Jacques Schnee entered the room, his arrogant scowl on his face as usual. A servant followed closely behind, holding a silver case. The current head of Schnee family stood impatiently, expecting his daughter to greet him properly. Weiss did as he thought.

"What do you need, father?"

"I assume you have heard on this Cronus man." Weiss' face momentarily brightened up at the name, which Jacques noticed. "I see. Then, do you recognize this?" He showed her the recording of Knockout Fighter fighting Blood Stalk on his Scroll. Seeing her surprise as answer, he snapped his finger and the servant opened the case, revealing a gun that looked suspiciously similar to a Transteam Gun, except the SDC emblem on the body and a set of colored bottles.

"This is a Dust Magnum and four cartridges containing four types of Dust elements, made by the bright minds of Schnee Dust Corporation. Since you are going to Beacon, and by extension, Vale next month, I want you to field-test this weapon firsthand and report data back to me. At first, I didn't want to give such a valuable prototype to you but with Cronus and two people in the video roaming around Vale, I suppose you will need a better weapon to protect yourself against those monsters."

Jacques picked up the gun and a red bottle, presumably Fire Dust. He inserted the latter into the former's forefront slot, which caused the gun to announce 'Flame', and pressed the trigger. A big sphere of concentrated Fire Dust flew out of the windows before exploding violently on the air. Weiss was stunned at the destructive power of the gun.

"You can replenish the content with liquefied Dust. I expect you to get used to this weapon by the time you set off to Vale."

Jacques left the room as Weiss held the empty bottle in her hand and suddenly, a head-splitting pain happened. She crumbled to the ground, holding her head in agony. One could see a light-colored miasma was being absorbed into the bottle, which explained the pain as her Aura was forcefully extracted. Outside her room, the servant smirked evilly and walked away.

* * *

-Mistral-

Pyrrha Nikos didn't expect to be backed into a corner. Her Semblance was useless against this foe and he easily fended off her attacks. This person cladded in a full black armor and helmet with strange device attached on his waist which had a notable big red button on it. Earlier, she briefly heard 'Tank Tank' from the device so she thought her power could affect him but she was wrong.

"So this is the famous Champion of Mistral. How disappointing." He pressed the blue button on the red switch and then gripped the level before spinning it.

[**MAX Hazard On! Gata Gata Zutton Zuttan Zutan! Gata Gata Zutton Zuttan Zutan!**]

"Try harder next time we meet again."

[**Ready, GO! Hazard Finish!**]

The man brought his punch, which was covered in dark smoke, towards Pyrrha. She thought this was the end for her when he suddenly changed his direction and delivered the attack at a sneaking Beowulf, completely obliterating it in the spot. Pyrrha didn't understand what had happened as she succumbed to her injuries and exhaustion. Before her eyes closed, she caught a glimpse of the man's face as he de-transformed.

"Ah hell, don't do this to me." He said in a tired voice.

* * *

-Beacon-

Zwart woke up to see a white ceiling and his body ached a lot. Look like someone had brought him to a hospital of sort but it seemed that he was the only patient –er, not really. There was a person lying at the corner of the room too.

'Ouch, I didn't recall being hit this bad by Blood Stalk.' Zwart massaged his chest. 'Is this because of the Bugster Virus?'

Picking up the device, he attempted to transform into Knockout Fighter again and de-transform. It went smoothly and aside the pains earlier, he felt nothing else. Zwart noticed that he was stripped to his underwear, of course, so he grabbed the bed sheet and walked to the exit after putting the Gashat Gear Dual into his Inventory.

'I need to get out of here. If they had seen the Gear Dual, the Atlas goons would be on their way here.'

The door slid open, revealing Amber and a girl with bunny ears. All three of them stood there for a moment before the girls shrieked and the faunus girl almost slapped him when Zwart's body moved aside on its own.

"Pervert!"

"I was about to explain myself but I will still get called Pervert anyway."

Zwart put on the most poker face he could make and said.

….

"Qrow brought you here five days ago. You didn't look so bad but for some reasons, the doctors couldn't wake you up and they were so close to declare you dead when Headmaster Ozpin ordered them to monitor you."

"I see." Zwart frowned; another Bugster Virus symptom. "What else?"

"Well, miss Velvet's team was assigned to guard the room and one of the members thought it was a good idea to mess around your stuff." Amber's eyes glanced at the unconscious teen. "He played with your thing for a moment and then he began to glitch out like crazy and went coma."

"Please, you have to save Fox!" Velvet begged him with all of her teary eyes and cuteness. Zwart's heart skipped a beat before he managed to calm down.

'Stay down you stupid hormones.'

"Well, that's his fault for toying with someone's property, especial something with security measure. But very well, as you wish."

Zwart stood up and brought out the Gashat Gear Dual. To be frank, he did not know how to cure a Bugster-infected patient aside waiting for the Bugster to come out and defeating it. He might try using Energy Items that Perfect Puzzle was supposed to possess.

[**Perfect Puzzle**]

"Henshin!"

[**DUAL UP! Get the glory in the chain. Perfect Puzzle.**]

Zwart motioned his hands and right away, the Energy Items appeared before him. He took the Recover medal and threw it at Fox before waiting for the effect to kick in. After few minutes, nothing happened. Assuming that one wasn't enough, he grabbed all remaining Recover items and threw them at the boy, one by one. it took six for Fox to stir up and then he began to glitch.

"GYAAAAH!"

A small Bugster emerged from Fox and attempted to grab Zwart when he simply caught it with one hand and crushed it.

[**Game Clear**]

"Huh. That's something." Zwart de-transformed as the Gear Dual called out 'Gashoon'. He turned to Velvet. "He should be fine now. Give him one or two days."

"T-Thank you!" She went to hug him. Zwart tried to restraint his burning hormones again. He didn't notice a sullen look from Amber.

* * *

After a whole month separated from my computer due to the COVID-19 disease, I finally finished this chapter but not as I wanted. I did encounter a Block so this is all I can muster. Enjoy guys!


	6. Chapter 6

~Stage 6~

Ozpin and Glynda silently watched the process via the CCTV inside the infirmary. Although the woman found her superior's method cruel, it proved that Mr. Parel was possessing an unknown technology that not only had a security system, it also harmed the intruder severely as evidenced by the fact that the device infected Fox Alistair with some kind of parasite.

"Ozpin, are you satisfied now?"

"Yes. Yes I am, Glynda." The headmaster replied with even tone while enjoying his coffee. Glynda sighed in resignation.

"Please do not resort to such option next time. I don't want to be the one to inform the parents of their child's death."

"Noted." Ozpin put his cup aside and pressed a button on the Scroll. "Did you see this, James?"

A small screen popped up alongside the CCTV showing General Ironwood of Atlas Military with his ever uptight expression. The man frowned when Ozpin decided to contact him.

"Did you see, Ozpin? That man is dangerous! You should have let me apprehended him to Atlas."

"For what reason, James? Studying the device is out of question. You of all people wouldn't want an outbreak inside your Kingdom, correct? Besides, he hasn't done anything wrong. In fact, he has been helping the VPD a lot with stopping the White Fang's heists."

"But still!"

"I understand your concern. That's why I'm keeping close eye on Mr. Parel. If he can be our ally, that's good. Otherwise, we can deal with him." Ozpin hid the fact that Zwart had defeated Qrow, one of his strongest enforcers, effortlessly. "For now, he will protect the Fall Maiden while Qrow is on scouting mission. Seems like Salem's pawns have increase their activities after Cronus' intervention."

"Do whatever you want, Ozpin." The general abruptly ended the call with an irritated tone.

* * *

Zwart spent the rest of that day listening to Amber's stories. He had requested her to inform him the notable events the past days and a side note to enlighten him with the story of Four Maidens. The news wasn't worth his attention except that there were sights of a 'walking black full-body armor'. He asked Amber to show him the images which she complied.

"No way. That's Build Hazard!" He accidentally shouted, gaining Amber and Velver's attention. The latter was quieter than usual and kept a distance from Zwart. He zoomed in the clearest picture he could find and found out that this Kamen Rider Build used two Tank bottles. "Metal Build to boost. Shit, did someone end up here like me?"

"What are you talking about, Zwart?"

"O-Oh, it's nothing." He gave the Scroll back to her. Now this was a new development. He had to find this guy; he might have a clue on how to enter and exit this place. As much as he liked Vale and its folks, Zwart preferred his good old Earth. In addition, his current body state worried him a lot.

Amber proceeded to recite the old fairy tale to him. Zwart hummed in interest; aside the usual thing, Ozpin had revealed to her that Salem and his previous incarnation _might_ have been involved with the creation of the Maidens and their powers. That's all from Amber. Zwart never went deep into RWBY's lore and the fact that he had stopped watching the show after the second episode of Volume 5 so this must be a new piece of information that should be revealed much later. He took note of this in case it would prove to be useful later.

Zwart turned to Velvet, the only Faunus in the room. As far as he remembered, she was a shy, quiet girl and only talked when asked or with her team. However, she looked comfortable around him and kept taking pictures of him. Huh, how interesting.

"Miss Scarlatina, your weapon is that camera I assume?"

"W-Wow, you can see it in the first glance?" She looked genuinely surprised. "Most people would miss it. Oh, and call me Velvet please."

"Very well. Where is the rest of your team?" Zwart asked, trying to be as civil as possible. He had nothing against the Faunus, he's just wary of strangers in general, even more than a normal person would be. A scar from the past…

"Coco and Yatsu are on mission while I'm here to look out for Fox. Thanks to you that he is safe now."

"It's nothing. Just tell him not to touch people's stuff again."

"I will."

The visiting hour was almost over and it's evening already so the girls bid Zwart goodbye. A pair of doctor and nurse came in and performed quick checking on him. He turned out to have recovered completely.

"Normally you can go now. However, Headmaster Ozpin instructed us keep you here until he returns."

'That's sound suspicious.'

"There is no need for that."

Ozpin, accompanied by Glynda who sent stern look at Zwart, walked in and regarded the staff with a nod. They told him two bad news and one good one. The formers were the Vale Council threatening to imprison him for the collateral damage and public anxiety with Atlas suggesting to apprehend him using their 'superior military force', as Ozpin called it. The older man had already prepared the legal papers for him to become Beacon's private enforcer as it was the only way to protect Zwart from the Kingdom's authority and the greedy hands of Atlas, who obviously wanted to study his transformation devices after bringing him to Mantle.

"I…see." Zwart internally cursed. He did not want to be in debt of anyone, especially in a strange world like Remnant. He pinched his nose in silent frustration and frowned. The nurse gave him a Beacon student uniform for the time being. "Nice try, old man. Nice try. I don't even have a word in this."

"It's for your own good, Mr. Parel. Everything you need will be free and I can, in Qrow's language, 'bail you out' when you get in trouble with the authorities. It's a very generous offer, I must say."

"No need for honey words, Ozpin. Let's get this done so I can get a good sleep."

Glynda was about to retort at Zwart's attitude when Ozpin raised a hand to stop her. She reluctantly backed down and presented the documents for Zwart to sign. After all of that was done, he was instructed to go to the student dormitory. At the building, a man with messy green hair and a pair of glasses was waiting for him.

"You must be Zwart Parel then. My name is Bartholomew Oobleck, Beacon's history teacher, and my job is to introduce you to your new place. Follow me."

Zwart silently followed Oobleck while gazing at the architecture. The professor was uncharacteristically quiet, unlike what Zwart had seen in RWBY. He also avoided physical contact with the young man, which the latter suspected to be due to the story of Fox Alistair. Zwart didn't blame him though, he just hoped that two of them could get familiar in the future.

Oobleck stopped before a room without tag and opened for Zwart. Inside, everything had been organized and his old clothes were on the bedsheet.

"We don't have a spare room for new staff so Headmaster Ozpin chose a student instead. I hope you won't find it uncomfortable." Oobleck said, tilting his glasses. "The new semester will start in less than a month so I suggest you getting used to our school. One more thing, I don't want to sound rude but I advise you to avoid meeting with the students. We can't afford to have another Mr. Alistair case."

"Got it. Thank you for the tour. I will buy some good coffee for you later, professor Bartholomew."

"Ah, you don't have to do it."

"I insist. Well then, have a good night."

Zwart took a look at his new room; it was better than the previous one for sure: flat-screen 55inch TV, a set of sofa, a desktop pc with RGB, a woodgrain wardrobe with spare student and staff uniforms and a coffee maker. He went to examine the bed and it was super comfy. He didn't bother to check the bathroom, knowing that it would just be as grand as the rest. Ozpin wasn't kidding when it came to his associate.

*brrrr*

His Scroll received an incoming call. It was Roman.

"Zwart speaking."

"Kid, where are you? You suddenly went missing and that bitch Cinder is acting oh-so mighty here. Even Neo has been worried sick about you."

"Encountered a Cobra Faunus and got beaten up badly. I currently stay at Beacon as part of the deal with Ozpin. Our business has to postpone for a long while. He is keeping close eye on me."

"Damn, that sucks." Roman clicked his tongue. "Anyway, glad you're okay. Our deal is still there so if you're up for a heist, just call me alright?"

"Heh, how generous of you." Zwart laughed dryly. This was indeed awfully considerate and generous of Vale's infamous criminal. Well, free offer so why not? "I will rest for whatever Ozpin wants me to do tomorrow. See you later, Roman."

"Yeah. Sweet dreams, kid."

*click*

Zwart docked his Scroll to charge it while changing clothes. It was this moment that he noticed a charred circular wound few inches below his heart on his chest. It seemed to be the spot Evolto had punched him. It didn't hurt at all, even with all the scratches. Its color reminded him of the Nebula Gas.

'Is this what he means by increasing my hazard level? That reminds me, where is the empty bottle?'

Zwart opened the Inventory and it was nowhere to be found. He suspected Ozpin had confiscated the bottle. He mentally shrugged; he had no use for it for now anyway, especially he didn't want to become a Smash. If he changed his mind, he could just use the remaining two pulls to get an Evol Driver set to rub it on Evolto's face but he was content with Cronus and Para-DX.

* * *

Next day, Amber went to wake him up early at 6:00am, saying that Ozpin required his presene. Zwart quickly prepared himself and then went with her. He forgot to ask about her condition yesterday so today he did. It appeared that Cinder had taken a miniature but still a part of her power. It shouldn't be a big deal for her right now as Amber hadn't encountered any problems so far.

"Do you know anything about what Ozpin's going to tell us?"

"Qrow said something about retrieving an important object. Sorry that's all I know."

"Hm." Ozpin rarely deemed something important except the Relics. Unless he knew of Lionheart's treachery, there was no need to transfer the Relic of Knowledge. The other two were safe within the academies. How interesting.

The elevator reached the top floor. Ozpin was talking with a man in white overcoat, red necktie and a glove on his right hand. Zwart immediately knew that was James Ironwood just by looking at his stone face. Great, the top shot of Atlas Military. The general regarded Amber with a nod and Zwart with a scowl.

"So, this is the infamous Cronus. I would imagine you are older than that, considering you have stolen a highly advanced device."

"Bah, spare me your annoying voice, Ironwood. I don't have time for a **half tin can** like you." Zwart spat. Ironwood's eyes widened at the knowledge of his cybernetics. His jaw shut tight and his hands trembled in anger.

"How…did you know?"

"How I know isn't important. Ozpin, our deal ends if I ever see his **goddamn **face with you again."

Amber noticed the malicious undertone in Zwart's voice. This was out of his character as she had never seen him cursing before. This must be her first.

"You…!"

"James, our conversation will continue later. For now, we need Mr. Parel's help."

"Just you wait. I will take the Bugvisor from you eventually, Zwart Parel."

And his face disappeared from the monitor. Ozpin sent a sigh at Zwart.

"Antagonizing James won't help you anyhing, Mr. Parel. He was the first to suggest we keeping your personal information away from the public."

"So he can open my body to study? Not a chance, Ozpin. Besides, my body is a walking disease. Both you and him do not want a massive Bugster outbreak, right?" Zwart allowed himself to smirk as he casted a glance at the uneasy Amber. The immortal man had her firmly in his gasps so even with Pause, he would have difficult time fighting her. He pinched his nose to lower his temper. "…Sorry. I just don't like people like the general."

"I understand. James can get on people's nerves sometimes. Moving on. Glynda, if you may."

Glynda tapped on her tablet and the monitor showed a detailed map with the name 'Mistral'. The map zoomed in and marked a spot with 'Haven Academy'. Zwart knew something was off.

"Headmaster Lionheart of Haven reported that several students have gone missing within the span of this week. He couldn't afford more Huntsmen for the search so he came to me. Mr. Parel, this is your first task. Find the students and bring them back. Sounds easy, doesn't it?"

"Knowing you, there's something more." Zwart commented.

"Indeed. Transmission from the last student recorded this." Ozpin nodded at Glynda, who tapped on the tablet again. An audio file opened and played.

"**UNCONTROLLED SWITCH! BLACK HAZARD! **_**YABEI**_**!**"

Zwart's eyebrows slightly raised. So it really was Metal Build. He wondered if Perfect Knockout was enough to beat that monster. Ozpin, having read his expression, folded his hands and spoke.

"I assume that you know one or two about the perpetrator. Is there anything you want to ask?"

"Nothing –er, there is one." A small smile rose on his face. "Call Lionheart and ask him about a certain Arthur Watts. Tell me his reaction when I return."

"Hmm, I see. The bullhead is waiting for you. I suggest you heading there at once. The faster you complete, the more you earn. I already transferred 50,000 lien to your account. The rest will be yours once you return."

"Heh, so I'm a mercenary now? Fine by me." Zwart turned around and entered the elevator. He was stopped by Amber.

"Um, I can't come with you due to…_reasons_ so, uh, good luck out there. Please come back alive."

He was confused but then smiled and gave her an assuring pat on the shoulder before leaving.

* * *

The flight to Mistral was short as the pilot was authorized to use the thrusters by Ozpin. The vehicle started to slow down as they were approaching the location the student had been last seen, which was a forest outside Mistral's capital. How suspicious.

"You can drop it here."

"Roger that."

The bullhead lowered down as Zwart grabbed the robe. His gloves protected his hands as he slid down from the bullhead using the rope. Once he landed, the pilot gave him thumbs up and left. Zwart began to head deeper into the forest with the Gashacon Bugvisor II in Chainsaw Mode attached on the Grip Knuckle and the other holding his Scroll. The device actively navigated him to the blinking spot.

"Grrr…"

He heard multiple growls around him. Three Beowulves and two Ursas emerged from the bushes, circling around Zwart.

"I don't have time for pests like you."

[**KIMEWAZA! Critical Sacrifice!**]

The chainsaw grew a large energy blade as Zwart shifted his stance and made a full circle spin while swinging the Bugvisor Zwei. The attack sliced the Grimms apart and absorbed the remains into the blade.

[**Game Clear! Here is your reward!**]

The Bugvisor announced in the best engrish it could muster. An RPG-style chest popped out from the display on the device, which Zwart caught in the air. The chest disappeared right away and presented him a black Gashat, Proto Shakariki Sports.

"Now _this _is something. Shame I can't use Rider Chronicle with it though, it will blow my cover."

Putting away the Gashat, he continued his job but before that, just to be sure, he switched the Bugvisor into Beam Gun Mode to shoot down anything suspicious. Some smaller Grimm types appeared to block his way. A couple shots took care of them.

Half an hour later, Zwart arrived at an abandoned village. At first he thought it had been overrun by Grimm, as evidenced by the ruined houses. He went further to examine and found no dead bodies. He came to conclusion that the villagers had been evacuated beforehand, which was a good sight. Still, this place was the location that the transmission from the last missing Haven student led so now there were two possibilities: killed by Metal Build and mauled to death by the Grimms.

[***tink* Uncontrolled Switch! Black Hazard! YABEII!**]

It was behind him! Zwart fired at the suddenly appeared Kamen Rider Metal Build, who shrugged it off like nothing. Quickly taking out the Gashat Gear Dual, he transformed into Perfect Puzzle. As expected, Metal Build was exceptionally sturdy due to using two identical abiotic Fullbottles but not undefeatable if this guy used man-made bottles. True Fullbottles, however, were bad.

"Who are you?! A Rider Experience player like me?!"

"Who knows. Beat me and perhaps I will answer that."

Metal Build sent a strong kick at Para-DX's abdomen, momentarily weakening him enough for another kick that sent the Rider into the wreckage of a building. Para-DX, however, used Recover and Speeding-up Energy Items on himself so he quickly regained momentum and used the wall to launch himself back at Metal Build.

[**KIMEWAZA! Critical Judgment!**]

"Payback time, pal!"

Slamming the glowing muzzles into Metal Build's chest, Zwart pressed the trigger. A huge blast engulfed both of them.

"Heh, nice try." The light dimmed down and Metal Build didn't even flinch. He head-butted Zwart and proceeded to use his finisher.  
[**MAX Hazard On! OVERFLOW!**]

"Dammit! KUH!" The punch completely depleted his Health Gauge and reverted him to human form, the Gashat Gear Dual lying next to him. Metal Build approached him in an arrogant walking manner.

"I shouldn't have expected a level-45 player, or 46 as you are now, to do anything special. I mean, you have insane luck to have pulled an Extra Super Rare Cronus Rider and Secret Super Rare Gashat Gear Dual Another but that's all about you."

"Damn…you…"

"Oh well, since I'm a nice guy." He de-transformed and Zwart's eyes widened. Metal Build was…him?

"Zwart Parel. Nice to meet you at last, _me_."


	7. Chapter 7

~Stage 7~

Vladimir could not believe in his eyes. That was clearly Build in his Hazard form.

"So Sento Kiryu is here. I knew it was a good idea following after the traits." The half-Faunus half-alien chuckled to himself before taking out his Transteam Gun and the Cobra bottle. He was about to jump down and transform when Metal Build reverted to his human form and showed the same face as that Cronus boy. He should have anticipated this. Killbus had once used the Build Driver along with Sento's bottles so this clone should be able to use it as well.

"Oh well, I have lots of free time."

He decided to sit back and watch the event unfold.

* * *

"How…? How do you look exactly like me?" Zwart weakly stood up, his bones aching a lot despite the regenerating tissues that his Bugster cells were generating.

"Tsk tsk, you ask too much!" His lookalike waved his finger in disapproval. "I told you, you have to beat me in order to learn more!"

"Grr…" Zwart picked up the Gashat Gear Dual and took out a Gamer Driver to place it on his waist. "You want a fight, you give you one. Henshin!"

[**DUAL GASHATTO! MAZARU UP! Aku no kobushi tsuyosa! Yami no puzzle rensa! Ashiki yami no ouza! Perfect Knock Out!**]

A hologram containing Perfect Puzzle and Knockout Figher scanned through Zwart and shattered. He brandished the blackened Gashacon Parabragun and waited for his double to transform as well.

"Oh, Para-DX level 120 eh? How interesting." 'Zwart' opened his palm and revealed a dark mechanical dragon. He produced a bottle with the same color, twisted its head and inserted it into the dragon, which folded itself upon the insertion. He pressed the red button on the body of the device and plugged it into the Build Driver

[**Mezamerou! Chou Cross-Z Dragon!**]

"What? Isn't it Great Cross-Z Dragon?"

"Watch." He smirked after finished cranking the Vortex Lever. "Henshin."

[**Are you ready? Awaken The Disaster! Saikyou no Ryu! YEAAAAAH!**]

Two hazy Halfbodies fused with 'Zwart', revealing Kamen Rider Chou Cross-Z. He looked like a darker-color Great Cross-Z but with the lower duster coat from the Cross-Z Evol and his armguards looked like two dragon jaws.

"No way, a new form that isn't from the show? Bullshit!"

"No no no, it's true." Chou Cross-Z laughed as he stepped forward. "This is very real. Now, let's get this started – Hm?"

Suddenly, thunderous hooves could be heard nearby. They turn to see a dozen of Horse Grimms heading toward them with killing intent. Among them were a Beringel and many smaller types. Zwart switched his weapon to gun mode and started firing. Some weaker Grimms fell quickly but the faster ones managed to skip past him and lunge at Chou Cross-Z. Of all sudden, he equipped himself with a Gashacon Bugvisor, the original one, and fired in retaliation.

"You are full of surprises."

"I live to please." The other Rider laughed as he dodged a Beowolf's claw and crushed its head with his hand. "Let's get this wrapped up, shall we?" He started cranking the lever. Zwart inserted the Gashat Gear Dual into the Slot Holder on his weapon

[**Ready, go! Chou Draconic Attack!**]

[**Urawaza! Perfect Critical Finish!**]

Both Riders unleashed two energy lasers that pulverized anything in their path. Vladimir almost got caught in the crossfire as he transformed in time and escaped. Chou Cross-Z didn't miss his presence at all but chose to stay silent. Once the smoke dissipated, only corpses of the Grimms remained in decomposing process.

Para-DX turned to Chou Cross-Z, weapon raised.

"Woah woah, is this your kind of thank you?"

"Tell me, did you kill the Haven students?"

"Haven who?"

Zwart fired on the ground next to him. The other Rider flinched a bit before laughing.

"As expected of me, can't fool myself. She was unlucky to see me." He reached a purple bottle from the Fullbottle Holder and threw it at Para-DX. "A gift from that girl."

Zwart's aim didn't waver as he crouched down to pick it up. It had a rendition of a dragon with only two legs, which made it a wyvern.

"What's this about?"

"Oh, that girl transformed into a Smash. Didn't know its name but when I defeated her, some kind of self-destruct mechanism triggered and she blew up, leaving this bottle behind."

"Then why giving this to me? I don't have any driver compatible with it."

"Just keep it. Maybe someone can lend you a Transteam Gun or better, a Nebulasteam Gun."

[**Gashoon**]

Both Zwart's de-transformed and stared at each other for a long while. When Zwart, the real one, attempted to start a conversation again, his Scroll was vibrating. It was Ozpin.

"Zwart speaking."

"I suppose you have found the culprit?"

Zwart eyed from the device to his clone and answered.

"I did. Turned out he only 'disposed' of the last student. The previous ones weren't his doing."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I saw the killer myself." Zwart's clone spoke up…in Dan Kuroto's voice. Zwart's eyeballs almost popped out at the trick. "He mortally wounded the girl so I had to mercy kill her."

"Hmm." Ozpin paused at the other side and then continued. "I will give you the benefit of doubt, Mr…?"

"Noir. Noir Perlog."

"Mr. Perlog, my apologize if I pronounce it wrong, I would like you to come to Beacon along with Mr. Parel. Do not be alarmed, as long as you behave properly, we won't resort to the police."

Noir looked at Zwart who shrugged.

"Uh, sure thing?"

"Good. A bullhead is en route to your location. Ozpin out."

"So, who killed the others?" Zwart asked, putting away his Scroll. "And you haven't told me who exactly you are?"

"About the latter, another time. The former; it was Tyrian Callows."

"You mean, that nut job of a Faunus? Really?"

"Your fault for not watching the show seriously. Lionheart admitted to have sent the students out for Tyrian and Hazel to kill."

"Damn…" Zwart saw a blank bottle on his counterpart's driver. "Is that…?"

"This? Found this in this village last night. Not sure what to do with it so I brought it along."

Soon, a bullhead was hovering above the two and landed on an open field outside the village. The pilot was the same one Zwart had seen and he was perplexed by how uncanny similar Noir was to him.

"Um…Uhhh…"

"Long story. Let's just go." Zwart patted his shoulders, which the pilot slowly nodded and took off.

During the flight, Zwart asked Noir a lot of questions but all was pushed aside with the same excuse. Resigned, he slumped back in his seat and read the news on his Scroll.

"When did you arrive at Remnant?"

"Same time as you." Noir said while chewing on a bar of protein provisions he had taken from a grocery store. Chewing was an understatement, he only bit a small piece and the rest was…absorbed into his body via his hand.

'Yikes.'

"Cool, isn't it?" It would seem that Noir could read Zwart's mind. "A piece of cake."

"Dude, that's creepy. By the way, have you thought of an excuse? You know, the 'you look like me' thingy?"

"Relaaaax." Noir said in a very chill manner. "Everything will be fiiiine. Ozpin can't do shit to us."

* * *

"Aaaand he _can_ do shit to us."

Immediately after exiting the bullhead, multiple Huntsmen and Huntresses surrounded Zwart and Noir with their weapons ready, most of them glowed in many colors. As an instinct, both of them drew theirs, the Gashacon Bugvisors.

"Is this necessary, Oz?" Zwart asked with deadpan tone. The Huntsmen made way for the retired Huntsman and Glynda to step forward.

"Just a precaution measure, Mr. Parel. After all, that man is a murderer and…" He pointed at Zwart. "You two are like two peas in a pod. I cannot ignore this."

"Always knew that you are a snake, Oz." Noir snarled as he put on the Build Driver but Zwart pulled it out, resulting in getting electrocuted. His Bugster body shrugged it off of course.

"Don't. He has a Maiden." He whispered to his double loud enough for Ozpin, who raised an eyebrow. "We don't want to deal with magic bullshit right now, trust me."

"Tsk." Noir put away the Hazard Trigger and clicked his tongue. Ozpin motioned for the Huntsmen to get closer and apprehend the duo. One of them attempted to touch the Build Driver and giving that he didn't possess any Hazard Level at all, it was miracle that he wasn't fried alive. His partner went to his side and glare at Noir, who sent a mocking grin back.

"Get moving."

"Alright alright, pussy cat."

The faunus, a leopard type, tried her best to stay civil. Zwart sighed and slapped his clone's head.

"Shut up, idiot."

….

Due to Zwart's special privilege, he got to stay in his room but with tight security. Amber was authorized to keep an eye on him though she didn't do it well. Zwart was playing with the Rider Chronicle and Proto Shakiriki Sports, the Wyvern Fullbottle and a blank bottle lying on the table. The Gamer Driver refused to let him transform into Chronicle Biker Gamer, he made it up, but the individual Chronicle Gamer and Biker Gamer were fine. His Biker Gamer seemed to base on Mighty Action Proto but with Lazer's color scheme. How weird.

"Um, please stop doing that. Headmaster Ozpin will get upset at you more, Zwart."

"Hmm."

He inserted the gashat into the Kimewaza Slot and was about to use the finisher on the door out of boredom when Ozpin emerged from it.

"A new form I assume, Mr. Parel?"

"Not your business."

[**Gashoon**]

"I understand your sour mood so let's get right to the main topic." He took a seat on the sofa. "What happened?"

Zwart scowled but told him the event except the whole Rider Experience part. Ozpin seemed to know about Tyrian but his face didn't say much.

"You want more, you will have to ask Noir."

"I see." Ozpin stood up and opened his Scroll. "The rest is yours. Remain standby until your next assignment. Well then, have a nice day."

* * *

Zwart asked Amber to go to the downtown with him but she had schedules with the doctor and _them_, a.k.a Ozpin's Illuminati Circle. He hopped on a bullhead and right after he exited it, a pair of gloved hands covered his eyes. Zwart couldn't think of anyone; it could be one the Malachite sisters, or…

"Ufufufu." That giggle only belonged to one person.

"Missed me, Neo?"

He had long known that his Scroll was bugged with tracker so no surprise that she knew he was here. The girl released him and greeted him with her two-finger sign. They 'chatted' a little using the scrolls before Zwart offered to buy ice creams for her. Neo chose the neapolitan ice cream obviously. His was a simple vanilla one.

Neo said that Cinder and her goons had gone to Anima two days prior and thanks to that, Roman had the free reign to command the White Fangs. Unfortunately, Adam Taurus frequently visited this city and had placed two of his most trusted lieutenants to oversee the heists and keep an eye on both Neo and Roman. That's why she wanted to meet him, to tell him to take care of them.

"I would want to but you see." Zwart showed her the Beacon staff uniform. "I'm with Ozpin now so I can't go around and start a fight."

Neo pouted and resumed eating her ice cream. After a moment, her eyes gleamed as if she had found a solution and went to type on her Scroll. Zwart's right eyebrow raised.

"Not bad. It may actually work." Zwart remarked and set down his ice cream cup. "When?"

"_The following night_." She texted back. He rubbed his chin, thinking. Perhaps he could get Noir out and bring him along. Two was better than one, after all. That settled it.

"Alright. Tell Roman to send me the coordinates. I will bring reinforcement since I can't afford to underestimate the White Fang anymore. They have Evolto –er, they have Blood Stalk with them."

"_Blood Stalk? You mean, Vladimir Crimson the Blood Drinker? Yeah, that guy's crazy. More than I am! But at least he is chilled around unlike those animals._"

"Heh, is that so?" It was true though. When it wasn't about his grand scheme of destroying everything, Evolto was a cool guy to hang around, although his habit of using Italian could be annoying sometimes.

"?" His danger detector 'dink'ed in his head. Something or someone was coming.

"Oh hey, Mr. Zwart! Never expected to see you here!" It was just Ruby yet why were the Bugster cells in his chest all but screaming at him to run?


	8. Chapter 8

~Stage 8~

Ozpin rested his head on his folded hands, staring at the whistling Noir. The youth looked relaxed despite his restrained limbs and his transformation device confiscated. The object had sent two of his third-year students to coma after being electrocuted too much and it was kept in a case on the table, which Ozpin used to bargain with Noir.

"I ask you one more time, what _exactly _happened back then? We have the recording of you using this…belt."

"Go back to your den, _Ozma_. I don't want to talk with a failure like you."

"…I would like to know how you knew that name but that's not important now." Ozpin's hands tightened. "Where is Miss Beryl's body? Did you dispose of it?"

"Maybe I did, maybe not." Noir smirked. Ozpin could see the restrains were pushing to their limits as bits of them were falling off. "I agreed to come here just to see how incompetence you are. I'm satisfied."

Noir broke free of his confinement and grabbed the Build Driver to put it on his waist.

"Wait." Ozpin spoke up, having prepared for the worst. "What is your relationship with Mr. Parel? And, are you familiar with Arthur Watts and his connection with the headmaster of Mistral?"

Noir stopped mid-track and stared at Ozpin with studying eyes. Then he grinned.

'Oh man, Zwart, you talked too much.'

"About the first, I can't tell yooooou but the second, heh, they have a hand on the disappearances and Tyrian Callows."

"Can you elaborate?"

"No more spoilers! Unless you offer something worth my time, that's all for you."

[**Hazard ON! Tank Tank, Super Best Match!**]

Noir was about to spin the lever when Ozpin spoke up one more time.

"I can give you the same privileges as Mr. Parel."

"Hmm~" Noir rubbed his chin and smiled devilishly. "That sounds decent enough for me. Well then, show me what you have."

* * *

Ruby was bombarding Zwart with questions using her trademark hyper speed talking. He barely got the gist of them and couldn't blame her for her childishness. She was just 15 for Christ's sake.

"First off, Neo here isn't my girlfriend. She is, for most of the time, my coworker. Second, we are not on a date though it may look like one." Zwart raised two fingers and then the third one. "And lastly, what are you doing here, Ruby?"

"It's boring back home, except Zwei cuz he is always cool, and Dad went to the bar with uncle Qrow and Yang went with her friends."

"Huh." Zwart rubbed his chin, thinking. 'Wait, don't tell me _it_ is going to happen tonight?'

"Ruby, are you heading to a Dust shop?"

"Yep, my baby is running low on ammo. Besides, there should be a new issue of weekly Weapon Magazine so yeah!"

'Oh shit.' Zwart covered his mouth in admonishment. 'But the start of new semester is supposed to be next month! What the hell is going on?'

He texted Neo, asking her that Roman was going out this night. To his horror, he did.

'Fuck!'

"H-Hey Ruby, I love that magazine too! Can I go with you?"

"Huh? Aren't you on a date with miss Neo?"

"It's okay! Neo understands my passion, right Neo?" He winked at Neo, who seemed to not understand the meaning but nodded nonetheless. "See?"

"Great! Then let's go, my comrade. Onward!" She tugged his shirt and pulled him with her newfound strength. He sent an apologetic look to Neo and let himself to be dragged away. Neo blinked at what had just happened but giggled and took a picture of the two with her Scroll.

…

As he feared, Ruby took him to From Dust Till Dawn. He had to find excuses to stay outside both to watch out for a group of intimidating-looking Faunus and to call Roman. The man didn't answer, which added to Zwart's ire. It had to be Cinder, no way around.

"Zwaaaaart, come in alreeeeady." Ruby whined at him. "You've gotta see this!"

"Just a moment, Ruby." He told her. Zwart switched to Ozpin's private number and called. Unavailable either. He texted the man: 'get Noir to come to a dust shop called From Dust Till Dawn asap, tell Glynda or whoever you want is fine. ASAP!' and hoped he would read it as soon as possible.

"Oh hey boss." Michael, the hawk Faunus that he had beaten in their first meeting and now his self-proclaimed subordinate after Zwart had kicked some human douchebag's asses, waved at him from the corner. Behind him was a group of White Fangs and Junior's men. The latter recognized Zwart immediately.

'Aw shit.'

They thought he was the 'reinforcement' Junior and/or Adam was supposed to send, which was both good and bad to him. He could use it to his advantage when the moment came but the bad thing was he couldn't transform in front of them. Damn…

"H-Hey." He waved back at them. "Another robbery, I presume?"

"You bet, boss." Michael said with a grin. "We need Dusts and this shop has lots of them. You wanna join?"

"Well, um, no. My friend's niece is inside the place so can you wait a few minutes?"

"No probs, boss. Guys, let's wait until my signal."

Zwart mused, so this guy was the leader this time and not Roman. He might be one of Adam's lieutenants so Zwart couldn't afford to underestimate. He went back to the store and fetched Ruby, who was reading a magazine.

"Wuh what?"

"We have company. Do you want your weapon?" He whispered to her ears. She took out Crescent Rose and showed him. Zwart nodded and turned to the owner, gesturing the door and making an 'X' sign. The old man understood and went inside, probably calling the police. He returned to Ruby.

"Hide the thing. We will have to get out, wait for them to go in and then…"

"We kick their asses!"

"Atta girl." He smirked. Ruby folded the scythe-sniper rifle hybrid and exited the shop with Zwart. While the latter acted normally, she was fidgeting, trying not to let her façade drop. He nodded at the thugs and the duo took a turn to the left alley.

"Alright, let's do this." He pulled out the Gamer Driver from nowhere, awing Ruby, and patted her shoulders. "Get them girl. I will follow behind."

"Got it!" She basically jumped in excitement and dashed back to From Dust Till Dawn with her Semblance and scythe. Zwart looked at the two Gashats on his hands, Rider Chronicle and Proto Shakariki Sports.

'What to do, what to do…' His eyes landed on the latter. 'Screw it.' He pressed the button.

[**Shakariki Spoooorts!**]

The Sports Gamer shot out from the start screen as the upbeat rock music played and the area was filled with Game World-like area effects. He peeked at the shop; Ruby was doing fine. Good, he mused. Zwart turned to the Gamer, which was circling around as if impatient.

"You have sentient now? Wow, Proto gashat rocks." He smirked. "Alright, henshin!" He inserted the gashat into the main slot of the Driver and pulled the Actuation Lever.

[**Gashatto! Gachan! Level Up!**]

Cue the yellow version of Mighty Action X appeared and scanned through him. The Sports Gamer jumped to the sky and constructed itself into armor mode.

[**Shakariki Mechakogi! Hot Hot! Shaka Shaka Kogi Kogi **_**Shakariki Sports**_**!**]

Kamen Rider Zwarts, he called himself as such for now, Level 3 was completed. At that moment, two White Fangs were running to the alley. They only saw a pair of glowing red eyes with white pupils staring at them before everything went black.

"Hmm, this feels comfortable enough." Zwart muttered as he ran outside and faced the thugs. Michael and his friends were confused with this new armored Huntsman while Junior's henchmen were getting their assed kicked by Ruby. Oh hey, it's Roman who was smoking not far from their spots, watching the fight. He seemed to somewhat recognize Zwart but he couldn't see the criminal's expression clearly. Roman still stood there, not moving.

"Ahem, alright punks, no more stealing tonight."

"That voice…! Cronus, you bastard!" Michael, for some miraculous reasons, couldn't tell that it was Zwart despite many times speaking with him. "But uh, what's with that getup?" He was knocked out in the face by a Trick Flywheel. The others ganged up on him with their pipes, swords, etc. He was about to fight back when Ruby came to his rescue with her rifle. She was understandably awed by his appearance.

"Wow, you look so cool Zwa –"

"Shh!" He made a 'silence' gesture and yelled at her as subtly as possible. Thank God the goons weren't conscious enough to listen to that. "I will explain later, now be quiet."

"My, to think that lowlife of a human who used to serve me drinks is Cronus, White Fang's most notorious enemy."

To Zwart's horror and Roman's irritation, Adam Taurus jumped down from a roof and spoke up. He could tell that the Bull Faunus was grinning in anticipation with his hand rested on his sword's scabbard, Blush. Roman sighed in resignation and moved forward from his spot, twirling his cane before raising it at Ruby and Zwart.

"Do you know anything of this, Roman Torchwick?"

"Beats me. No idea that it was the kid." Roman pretended. He changed his aim at Ruby. "You can take him on if you want, O Mighty Adam."

Ruby leveled her own gun at Adam and said to Zwart with her eyes locked on the criminal.

"You know them, Zwart?"

"…Yeah. The edgelord-wannabe is Adam Taurus, Leader of Vale's White Fang branch. The idiot with fedora –" "Hey!" "-you already know. Ruby, try not to cause too much commotion. I will take care of the Faunus."

He took out the Gashacon Bugvisor II and equipped it on his right hand with its Chainsaw Mode. Both sides stood motionlessly for a moment before Adam dashed at Zwart and Roman opened fire. Unknown to them, Blake was watching this from the beginning and she couldn't believe in her eyes that the good-natured man she had met several times in Tukson's bookstore was Cronus, the Huntsman that had viciously beaten her people. Well, the White Fang ones but they still counted. Her hands were trembling with anger. She wanted to kill Zwart but she couldn't blow her cover. Adam was here partly to look for her after all.

"Ah ah _ah_, what do we have here? A kitty!" She heard heavy footsteps behind her. Blake turned around to see a man in jet black body suit. Assuming he was Cronus' comrade, she fired Gambol Shroud at him but the bullets bounced off of his chest harmlessly.

"My, a _naughty _kitty. Looks like I'm having fun tonight."

* * *

Adam's slashes were so fast that hadn't it been for the armor, Zwart would have been cut to pieces. When the Faunus thrust forward, Zwart moved aside and struck his side as hard as he could with the Flywheel before firing a couple shots with the Bugvisor. As experienced before, his weaponries were very effective on Aura, few times they could pierce through the barrier as if it didn't exist. Adam seemed to take his beatings very well though bruises started to appear on his face and body.

"As expected of Cronus, you are as strong as they proclaimed. However," Zwart saw Wilt glow with red. "You fell for my trap!" Adam sent a large shockwave at the Rider, blasting him away. Zwart could only scream in pain as he collided into a building, destroying it completely.

"Zwart!" Ruby shouted but Roman stopped her mid-track with his cane.

"You fight is with me, Red." Roman fired at her again.

Adam walked toward the wreckage to check. He didn't expect to be knocked into the air by a bicycle wheel but he recovered, landed on the ground and shot his body forward. Zwart emerged from the smoke and fired his gun at Adam, who used his sword to absorb the shots and prepared for a massive strike. Zwart pulled out the gashat and plugged it into the Kimewaza Slot Holder while switching the Bugvisor back to Chainsaw. He pressed the switch and two A/B buttons.

[**Kimewaza! Shakariki Critical Strike!**]

[**Kimewaza! Critical Sacrifice!**]

"Repent!"

"No you!"

Adam yelled as he drew Wilt while Zwart rushed forward with the right Trick Flywheel and the Bugvisor II flashing with energy. They clashed into each other, resulting in an explosion that blew Ruby and Roman away.


	9. Chapter 9

Man, multiple chapters within two weeks! I can only do so due to the extended vacation to avoid the COVID-19 flu. It should end by the end of March's third week so I will try to make this story reach the end of the Initiation, which should take about two or three more chapters since the plot is still two weeks prior to the real day Vol1 starts. I just accelerated the plot so that Ruby and co have more time to interact with the OCs and of course, potentially more screen time for Evolto. Also, due to plot reasons, Zwart will not transform into Cronus for an unspecific period.

Without further ado, let's return to _Rider Chronicle_!

* * *

~Stage 9~

[**MAX Hazard On!**]

Metal Build pressed the blue button on the Hazard Trigger while strangling Blake. The girl was covered with blackened bruises, Gambol Shroud lying far from her spot. She had heard of this man as some friends back in Menagenie had warned her of a Huntsman in highly advanced suit that hunted down every Faunus, particularly the White Fang, and either kidnaped or killed them on the spot. But upon taking a closer look as he was this close to her, she realized that he wasn't the same one Orlando had told her. The other one had silver body armor with multiple steam chimneys and a very distinctive golden bat motif mask. The one she was at the mercy of was pure, metallic black and looked much more menacing.

"Tut tut tut, naughty kitty." Blake saw the man cranking the lever as the belt repeated its announcement. Black smokes came out from his armor and started to cover both him and her. Her lungs hurt a lot just by sniffing it.

"Curiosity kills the cat, you know. Oh well, hope you stay alive long enough to go to Beacon."

[**OVERFLOW! Yabeii!**]

He pulled his fist and Blake thought she was about to die. Just when her brain finally realized that he knew she was going to Beacon, someone or something yanked her off of his gasp and his punch hit the air.

"Huh?"

"Enough, Perlog."

Glynda Goodwitch set down Blake and went to scold Metal Build. Said Rider shrugged and de-transformed, much to Blake's surprise. He looked so similar to Cronus that she couldn't tell them apart. He certainly didn't look as kind as Cronus though, at least in his human guise.

"Bah, you party pooper. Remind me to never ask you for a drink or date." Noir said. He glanced at the battle below and hummed. "Well, looks like your boyfriend is gonna die, Blake."

"What? Adam!"

* * *

Zwart almost stumbled as his body ached everywhere. The impact had blown the right Trick Flywheel to pieces and part of the Sports Gamer was gone. He walked forward and found that Adam Taurus was not better than him. The Faunus's clothes were tattered and his mask was gone, revealing his right blue eye and the scar marred the left one.

"How…can you still alive?! He promised me this could kill you!" Adam yelled at him, trying to stand using his sword. Zwart took a closer look and found that there were cracks on the spots not covered by his coat and they were releasing smokes.

"Didn't Evolto say that Nebula Gas cannot exist in Remnant? Or, he found a workaround."

Zwart muttered to himself, loud enough for Adam to hear. He pressed the Kimewaza Switch one more.

"I don't know what that bastard did to you but I have to terminate you."

[**Kimewaza! Shakariki Critical STRIKE!**]

Sparks began to gather on Zwart's right foot and Adam clumsily raised both Wilt and Blush to shield him. Zwart ran to him and went for a straight kick until a Bullhead suddenly lowered, blowing him away with its fans. Emerald Sustrai grabbed Adam and attempted to use her Semblance on Zwart but it failed.

"Dammit, of all people! CINDEEEEEER!" Zwart shouted as he unloaded the Bugvisor at the vehicle, destroying some of its parts. Roman had no choice but to fire at the kid and hop on to escape. Ruby went to his side and also shot bullets at the Bullhead, prompting Cinder to switch pilot seat with Mercury and going to deal with the duo herself. She conjured an odd-colored fireball that looked familiar to him.

"Is that...?! Ruby, duck!"

"Wha-"

Zwart shoved her to the ground and received the attack, which overloaded the Rider Gauge and reverted him to normal. A sudden heartache after that forced him to his knees, allowing Cinder and the others to fly away.

"Stop – Argh!"

"Zwart?! Zwart, hang on!"

At that moment, Glynda and Noir arrived at the scene, followed by a limping Blake. Not far from there, Blood Stalk was watching with a camera. The statistics showing on the device's LCD screen were both good and bad to him. The prototype Nebula-substitute Gas was working and Adam almost defeated Cronus. However, it either lasted for a short period or was simply not enough as Adam soon became immobilized. Nonetheless, he had acquired valuable data this night and Evolto intended to use it to the fullest.

* * *

Ozpin signed, rubbing his eyes; these days had been exhausting to him. First was James' multiple complains that started to get on his nerves, second was the introduction of Noir Perlog and now, Zwart had to drag Ruby Rose _and_ Blake Belladonna into his business. He couldn't keep making excuses to the Council at this rate. Still, he had to take care of this matter.

Greeted by two police officers, Ozpin entered the hospital where Zwart was transferred to. The Gamer Driver and the Proto Shakariki Sports gashat were placed on the shelf nearby. He read the diagnosis and was slightly surprised: when he was brought to the hospital, the doctors could not revive him and were about to declare him decreased when his heart started beating but weak. One nurse claimed to have witnessed the object, the gashat, suddenly fly and impale itself into the patient's chest and his entire body functioned like normal again. The doctors concluded that the device must be his life supporter so they placed two of them next to him and continued to monitor his condition.

"You never fail to impress me, Mr. Parel."

Deciding that Zwart would be fine on his own, Ozpin exited the room and headed to the other rooms where Miss Rose and Miss Belladonna resided in. The former was mostly scratched and was eating cookies while the latter was out of Aura and there were black bruises on her body. He entered Blake's first.

"Good evening, Miss Belladonna."

"Headmaster…Ozpin."

Blake titled her head to the side and greeted him. Ozpin smiled gently at her and took a seat near her bed. He asked her about her conditions and then what had happened to her. He frowned as she mentioned of a 'Cronus-lookalike'.

'So, Noir Perlog again.'

Blake feared that her cover had been blown after this but Ozpin assured her that he would try his best to prevent that from happening, as long as she behaved. Ozpin left her for her own devices and went to Ruby's room. Glynda was standing outside, probably waiting for him.

"Qrow is inside, as expected."

"That's fast, considering the distance from Patch to Vale without Bullhead."

Ozpin took a deep breath and opened the door.

* * *

At the White Fang base, Adam was being tended to by the medical staff while surviving members were lying down on the floor, exhausted. Roman was no better as he didn't expect Ruby to be competent and persistent. Nothing a cigarette couldn't fix.

"I take that it went wrong?" Vladimir entered the warehouse. Adam shot up and ran to the hybrid with rage in his eyes.

"You liar!"

"Oh, I am no liar. You did almost beat him, correct?" Vladimir smiled while emphasizing at the 'almost'. Adam wanted to beat that smug look but his body didn't allow so he let the staff get him back to the chair. "However, I do admit that it was flawed. After all, I only finished a very early prototype."

"Do your damn best to improve it immediately. I will not get humiliated next time."

"Why of course."

Vladimir bowed at Adam in a mocking manner and then left. Cinder had witnessed all from the dark corner and now stepped out, looking at Adam.

"You hid this from me."

"Shut your trap, human."

"You know full well that I dislike secrets, especially from my own allies." A fireball appeared on her hand as to make her intention clear. Adam's remaining good eye glared at her but unable to do anything else.

"As Vladimir said, the substance was the only prototype. I field-tested it myself."

"Can you get more of it?" Cinder asked, no, demanded. This time, Adam has the gall to smirk at her.

"Depending of its creator. Even I have no authority on that monster."

Cinder's eyes gleamed dangerously but she relented as it was a waste of time intimating the Faunus. In truth, she too had the drug but after this night, she would have to wait a little longer in order to use it effectively. She would get her revenge, no way around.


	10. Chapter 10

I mainly use the canon Rider and Forms, including those that from other medias like movies and novels but there will be some made by me. They're not game-breaking or borderline OP, just mixing forms and elements.

Note: There were some funny bugs with FF that messed up this chapter and those lucky enough saw glitched texts all over the place. That's why I had to delete and reupload this chapter.

* * *

~Stage 10~

"Ow…My head…"

"Took you long enough."

Zwart turned his head to see Noir sitting on a chair nearby while eating an apple. His Gamer Driver and the black gashat were on the table next to him. He tried to sit up but his body felt like a thousand watts of electricity running through his internal system, forcing him to stay put.

"What the…?"

"Stay still. The Bugster cells inside your body are being neutralized by an unknown external factor. I checked your biological structure earlier; there is something or someone with the power to kill things like the Bugster Virus just by standing near you. I have a hunch."

"What or who?"

"Ruby Rose. She was present when I found you and something about her forced the Build System to shut down immediately when she laid her eyes on me. Must be the Silver Eyes." Noir threw remains of the fruit into the trashcan and stood up. "I'm not sure though. This needs more investigation. For now, both of us should avoid her."

Zwart made a small hum and rested his head on the pillow again. So it wasn't the side effect of using a Proto Gashat. He found it annoying as he couldn't move his limbs at all. His clone, doppelganger, whatever had a point: The Shakariki Gamer had almost vanished when Ruby was by his side. Cinder's fireball only accelerated it and he caught a glimpse of silver gleams from the younger girl's eyes when he shoved her aside.

'How intriguing…'

Zwart thought of the Bugvisor Zwei. If staying near Ruby caused the Kamen Rider systems to malfunction then he couldn't rely on the device as his personal weapon for long. He would have to find an alternative. At this moment, a nurse walked into his room and greeted him gently, saying that she was glad to see him awoken and now she would perform diagnosis on him. Zwart put the thoughts aside and let his mind relax for now.

* * *

Qrow dropped his jaw to the ground while Ruby jumped from her seat rapidly. Ozpin smiled knowingly with Glynda sighing in frustration.

"Really Oz…Really?" Qrow slowly recovered from his shock, hand reaching the flask that he had dropped earlier. "I know about _that _and all but…going to Beacon at this age? Are you insane? You want a Gretchen incident again?!"

"Now now Qrow, let's not get into that." Ozpin replied, still with the smile. "As you can see, Miss Rose agreed with it and I'm sure Taiyang will do the same too. Besides, she has Miss Xiao Long look after her as well and not to mention, _him_."

Qrow's eyes narrowed at the mention. "Didn't he cause all of this? I don't trust that guy at all, especially regarding Amber."

"So far, Amber is safe in Beacon without Mister Parel's protection. In addition, we gained another unlikely ally." Ozpin clapped his hands together and rested his chin on them. "Anyways, how's your newest investigation?"

Qrow looked at Ruby and gave her the usual smirk. "We're going to have an 'adult talk'. How about ya going to Zwart's room and, I don't know, chatting with him until I'm done?"

"Alright, uncle Qrow!" She replied, excitement still in her voice. "Um, what about it? You know, Beacon..."

"Later, Rubes." He rubbed her head. She pouted at him for a moment and left the room. Once she was completely out of earshot, Qrow sighed heavily and presented his Scroll on the table. He pressed the play button as a video involving Leonardo Lionheart and a middle-aged man with thick mustache in gray suit. It didn't record the entirety of the conversation but some parts were included like 'that meddling Cronus was here!' and 'You have to do something, Watts!'. Ozpin frowned at the name' Zwart was right.

"Wanna hear the best part?" Qrow smirked wryly. "Words around Atlas say that this guy is supposed to be _dead_ in the so-called Paladin incident. Furthermore, there are rumors about him associating with Vladimir Crimson, the Blood Drinker."

"Is that so? Have you reported this to James?"

"Do you think who I got the information from? Jimmy was adamant that our Zwarty has something to do with this but I think he is nuts." Qrow put away his Scroll and drank his flask. "Sore loser, that guy is."

"Hmm, James has always wanted to possess the most advanced technology in his army. I'm not surprised that he declares Zwart and Noir, if he ever finds out, wanted criminals and demand the Council to hand them over to Atlas." Ozpin said.

"Have they ever broken any of Atlas tin cans? Regardless of his excuse, I really want to see Jimmy have his ass handed to him by the kids." Qrow laughed.

Outside, Noir had heard everything. His lips quirked; Ironwood wanted blood, he got it. However, Noir had to make sure that Zwart would be the one to fight and defeat the general. He had a surprise for his progenitor once Zwart reached the required Level. He walked away while holding a black gashat with a dragon head-shape handle.

[**DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER Z!**]

* * *

-Schnee Mansion, Underground Basement-

Weiss was knocked away by the shockwave created from the exploding Dust bottle. It had been nearly a week now and she still couldn't control this gun! From what she had seen and experienced, it 'ignited' the dust inside first and then ejected it in bullet form. She was success with Ice Dust but the rest were either exploding right before her face or nothing happened at all. Each time her father passed by, he always gave her a disappointed look that irritated Weiss to no end, which contributed to her effort to master this weapon.

"Hah…Hah…It's no use."

She collapsed on the ground, both stamina and Aura exhausted. Weiss didn't notice a faint layer of smoke coming from the gun being absorbed into her body via the open wounds. All of this was witnessed by the same servant as always, a glee slowly widening on his face.

"According to the plan…"

He took out his own Dust Magnum and a bottle with bat motif. He shook the bottle few times and then inserted to the ammo slot on the gun.

[**BAT**]

* * *

-Downtown Vale-

After getting the call from uncle Qrow, Yang quickly headed to Vale to see her sister. She sped up her bike while maneuvered through the other vehicles. When she almost reached the hospital, a man sudden appeared before her, forcing Yang to abruptly stop her bike.

"Yo, what's the deal?!" Yang yelled at him before widening her eyes at who he was. "Zwarty? What on Remnant are you doing in the middle of the…road…? Zwarty?"

His eyes were eerily cold and soulless, his clothes were tattered as if he had been involved with a fierce battle. He only started to recognize her presence when she called him the nickname. And then, he _grinned_.

"Found…you…"

Zwart? showed her the Bugvisor Zwei and mild-damaged white with gold and darker brown tints gashat before putting on the former and pressing the button on the latter.

[**Gachoon!**]

[**TADDLE LEGACY**]

A deep, ominous elder voice announced in the same time as a creepy jingle started to play. Yang immediately went into her fighting stance as Zwart? inserted the gashat into the Driver and pressed the trigger.

[**BUGGLE UP! Adoritsuita Sekai! Kamigami no Legacy!**]

A dark projection with a glowing silhouette of a knight shot out from the Driver and scanned through him, presenting seemingly the Kamen Rider Brave Legacy Gamer. However, this version had two armguards, blue on the right and left on the other, two red eyes with jade spiky hair instead of Brave's knight helm.

"Wait, this isn't Cronus."

"Kamen Rider Cronus…Legacy Gamer…" Cronus? slowly beckoned his head at Yang. "Level…150."

"Level 150? What's that supposed to mean?" Yang barely brought her arms up in time to block a downward slash, Ember Celica sparkling against the blade. She took a look at his weapon and found out it was a weird sword with flame-motif edge and a big pad acting as the guard with two distinctive A/B buttons on it.

Putting the description aside, Yang struggled against the pressure from Cronus as he started to overwhelm her. He sent a feint punch at her so that she got distracted for a full second and ended the slash on her. Luckily, her Aura took most of the strike but it still pushed her away.

"You are not Zwart, I'm sure!" Yang shouted while checking her Aura and Semblance. The latter wasn't absorbing the force at all and a gap was visible on the former. At this moment, Yang knew she had to dodge or he would cut away her Aura entirely.

'What's up with that freaking sword?!'

…

Qrow was standing on the balcony after refilling his flask from a wine bottle he had snatched from the doctor's office. He looked at his Scroll and wondered why Yang hadn't arrived here when his eyes caught something near the hospital's entrance: a fight. Having nothing to do right now, he transformed into corvid and flew to watch. He almost fell mid-flight; it was Yang and some dude in armor that resembled Cronus. He returned to the hospital and hurried to Zwart's room.

"What's wrong uncle Qrow?"

"Where is that bastard – Huh?" Ruby was chatting with…Zwart? Qrow rushed to the bed and grabbed Zwart's shirt up. "What the hell are you doing now?"

"W-What do you mean? I'm paralyzed for the whole time here!"

"Then who is the armor freak fighting my niece?"

"What?"


End file.
